Memories
by Queen of Shadows
Summary: A hike in the woods leaves Shelby in a coma. When she finally wakes up she has no memory of who she, or anyone else, is. How will everyone else act? What will happen to her? Please R&R. Complete
1. Memory Lane

Shelby and Scott were standing next to each other washing dishes after breakfast. They were put on dish-washing duty for their public display of affection earlier when they were found kissing.

They scrubbed the pots in silence. Their heads shot up when Daisy came in back by them.

"We're all wanted in the deep, dark woods," Daisy said.

Shelby blinked.

"Whoa. Deja-vu," Shelby said.

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked.

"Well not really deja-vu but this happened before, last year. Me and you were back here doing dishes and Daisy came up and said that. It was when we were talking about how to get you out of here before your dad and that skank got here," Shelby said.

"I wasn't aware that day meant that much to you for you to remember," Scott said, teasing.

Shelby chuckled.

"It didn't. I just have a good memory," Shelby commented.

"Okay. Well while you two are traveling down memory lane, you guys are wasting time. Peter said hurry up," Daisy said.

"Right," Scott said. "Why are we going into the woods again?"

"We have a hike today. Remember?" Shelby asked.

"No. I don't have the great memory you do,"

"Peter told us yesterday,"

Shelby shook her head and smiled at Scott. She took off her apron and gloves and threw them on the counter. Scott did the same and followed the two girls out of the kitchen. They walked over to the group of Cliffhangers, Peter and Sophie.

"Good. Now that we're all here, why don't you guys get your back packs on so we can get going?" Peter asked and pointed to three pack backs that were already packed for Shelby, Scott and Daisy.

"Oh. What fun," Shelby commented with sarcasm while grabbing her back pack and putting it on.

Scott and Daisy both put theirs on. Daisy left the couple to walk by themselves and went up to talk to Ezra.

Scott and Shelby walked in the back of the group. Shelby kept glancing over at Scott as they walked in silence and Scott realized it after a few minutes.

"What are you looking at?" Scott asked.

Shelby shrugged.

"Just observing," Shelby said.

* * *

After about an hour of walking, Peter finally let the kids have a break. 

"Okay, we're going to stop her and take a five minute break," Peter said.

Scott stopped walking and grabbed Shelby's hand, forcing her to stop as well. He looked down at Shelby. He couldn't resist the chance to kiss her. He leaned down and kissed Shelby gently on the lips.

"Wasn't dish washing duty enough for you two?" Auggie asked teasing them.

"What can I say? I couldn't resist it," Scott said to Auggie smiling. "Honestly, could you resist her?"

"Yes," Shelby commented. "He resisted me before."

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked either of them.

"Early on, when Shelby first got here, she hit on me," Auggie said.

"Don't flatter yourself, Auggie. I hit on everyone," Shelby said.

"Yeah but I said 'no'. Not many other people did,"

"No one else did,"

"I did," Scott interjected.

"For a little while," Shelby teased.

"Almost two months isn't a little while, Shelby," Juliet said from behind Auggie.

"Well, I was going through a phase," Scott said.

"So that's all I was to you? A phase?" Juliet asked, grinning.

"Relax, Princess, you had him for a while. He was even jelouse of Auggie," Shelby said, glancing at Auggie.

"That's true. We actually got into a fight about you," Auggie said to Juliet.

"Awe. I feel so loved," Juliet smirked.

"You should,"

"Why are you guys talking about me like I'm not here?" Scott asked.

"Sorry," Juliet and Auggie both said.

Shelby turned to Scott and smiled.

"I'm sorry," She said and kissed him.

"He may have been with Juliet for a while but, you're the one he's with now," Ezra commented.

"And you're the one he came back for," Daisy added.

Shelby and Scott both smiled.

"Oh. Isn't this sweet. We're all taking a trip down memory lane about how our wonderful couple hooked up," David said with sarcasm.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Shut up, David. You weren't even here for everything we're talking about," Juliet said.

"I wasn't here for some of it either," Daisy said.

"Yeah but you, at least, know everything. And you didn't even miss a whole month of the drama with Scott and those two," Ezra said.

"It wasn't that much drama," Juliet said.

Everyone looked at her, even Shelby and Scott were the ones involved. She smiled.

"Okay. Maybe it was," Juliet said.

"All right, you guys, let's get going," Peter said, telling everyone that the short-lived break was over.

"That could not have been five minutes," Shelby said.

"Actually, it was six," Sophie said. "Now let's go. You guys are doing good, keep it up and we'll be back early,"

"Oh won't that just be so fun? We'll be back in time for us to go into our little beds and have a good night sleep," David said with obvious sarcasm.

Sophie shook her head and motioned for everyone to follow Peter.

Everyone started to walk again.

"So, you and your mom still not getting along?" Scott asked Shelby.

"She still hates me. I ruined her perfect life with Walt," Shelby said while shaking her head. "Perfect! How can she even say it was perfect? Me and Jess were going through hell and she was living it up. God. I can't stand her!"

"So she's still pissed at you 'cause you called the cops on him?"

"Basically,"

"Well at least Jess doesn't hate you anymore,"

"She only hated me 'cause I left her with him,"

"Yes, but she doesn't anymore,"

"Right," Shelby said.

"We have such confusing lives," Scott commented.

"Not always. Only when it comes to our former step parents. Speaking of our parents, how are you and your dad?"

"He's still pissed about me walking out on him,"

"He deserved it,"

"Try telling him that," Scott said with a chuckle. "He still thinks everything that happened with Elaine was my fault."

"Well, your dad's an idiot," Shelby said.

"So is your mom,"

"Oh. I know,"

Everyone continued to walk up-hill.

"You guys talking about your wonderful parents?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah. Except scratch the "wonderful" part out," Shelby said.

"Am I the only one here who loves my parents?" Auggie asked.

"You're the only one who's parents aren't the reason they're here," Scott said.

"I'm not the only one. Am I?"

"Well, let's observe. Scott is here because of his father and former step mother. Shelby's here because of her mother and former step father. Juliet is here because of pressures from her mother. Ezra's here because his parents never acknowledged him so he got into drugs. David's here because of his father keeping him away from his mother causing his new personality. And I'm here because my parents were alcoholics and now my mother's dead and my father is in rehab 'cause of it," Daisy said.

"Kat wasn't here because of her parents," Auggie pointed out.

"Yeah, she kinda was," Juliet said. "She did all those things to get them to notice her because after her sister died she thought they hated and blamed her."

"What are you all talking about back there?" Peter asked.

"Why we're here," Juliet said.

"And how it's all our parents fault," Ezra added.

"Don't blame your parents," Peter said sternly.

"Why not? You did, too," David said.

"Yeah. And then I grew up," Peter responded. "Come on. You guys slow down when you start to talk,"

Peter continued to walk up the hill as everyone dropped the discussion and followed.

Shelby felt oddly dizzy all of a sudden and stumbled nearly falling over but Scott grabbed her. Shelby shook her head and blinked a few times. She lifted her right hand to her forehead and rubbed it gently.

"You okay?" Scott asked concerned.

Shelby nodded and blinked a few more times.

"Yeah. It was just a dizzy spell," Shelby said and started to walk again.

Scott started to walk again next to Shelby. He watched her carefully, worried about that 'dizzy spell' she just had. Shelby saw him watching her and gave him a confused look.

"What?" Shelby asked.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Scott asked.

"I'm fine, Scott. Really. It was just a dizzy spell," She said again reassuringly.

"If you say so," Scott said, not convinced.

They both continued to walk.

* * *

After about another hour of walking Peter called for another five minute break.

Shelby threw her back pack off and leaned up against a tree. She wanted a cigarette for some strange reason. She was good and quit while she was at school last here but over the summer she started up again. It was a terrible habit and one that was extremely difficult to quit.

"Anyone got a cigarette?" Shelby asked allowed.

"I thought you quit?" Auggie asked.

"Well I started again over the summer,"

Peter looked at Shelby sternly.

"It's a hard habit to quit, Peter," Shelby said.

"Well there's no cigarettes here so you'll have the entire school year to quit again," Peter said.

"Yeah, you said there were no cigarettes here last year, too. Yet, I always ended up getting 'em anyways," Shelby said under her breath so no one heard except maybe Scott who was standing right next to her.

"All right, you guys, let's get going," Sophie said.

"Oh. I can't wait!" Shelby said sarcastically.

She leaned down to grab her back pack but she had another 'dizzy spell' and slipped. Her foot went out from under her and she fell down the side of the hill. She screamed as she rolled down the side of the hill on the ground.

"Shelby!" Scott yelled after her.

He jumped over the side of the hill after Shelby as she continued to slide down the side of the hill. He fell and rolled a little as he landed but he regained his footing before anyone really noticed her fell.

"Scott!" Sophie yelled after him as he jumped over. She was trying to stop him but it did no good.

Shelby continued to slide down as Scott ran after her. She couldn't stop herself. She tried grabbing something to stop her but it did no good, she either couldn't get a good enough grip or what she grabbed wasn't sturdy enough. Shelby wasn't stopped until her hit a large rock. Her head slammed into the rock and her body stopped rolling.

She lay there unconscious. She didn't move, she didn't make any noise and her breathing was faint.

Scott ran up to her body and sat down on the ground by her. He didn't touch her though. He didn't want to take the chance of hurting her even worse.

Peter came running up next to Scott.

"What happened?" Peter asked quickly

"I'm not sure. She leaned down to grab her back pack and she slipped," Scott said with a panicked voice.

Peter looked over Shelby's body. Her shirt was ripped and her stomach, back, face and arms had scratches all over them from the fall. The back of her head was also bleeding and her blonde hair was turning red.

Peter stood up and turned around.

"Sophie!" He screamed. "Call a rescue team to come up here and then call the hospital!"

* * *

Sophie nodded and picked up the radio. 

"The hospital? It's not that bad, is it?" Juliet asked to no one in particular.

David looked over the edge but was careful not to fall over. He noticed the blood in Shelby's hair and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna say it's that bad. She's out cold and she hit her head on a rock. I think that's the only thing that stopped her," David said and actually managed to sound worried.

* * *

Scott looked down at Shelby's limp body and fought back tears. _She's gonna be okay,_ Scott told himself. _She has to be okay._ Scott's eyes scanned over Shelby's body and stopped when he saw just how badly she was bleeding from her head. Her hair was soaked with blood. 

Scott looked to Peter. Scott's eyes glazed over with un-shed shed tears and Peters did, too. They both knew how serious it was though neither of them wanted to admit it. Scott felt like such a little kid right now. He didn't know what to do. All he could do was look at Peter with worry showing all over his face.

"She's going to be okay, right Peter?" Scott asked and his voice cracked as he was still fighting back tears.

"I don't know. I hope so," Peter responded as he was also still fighting back tears.

"Peter!" Sophie screamed down to them. "They're on their way!"

"Shouldn't we try to stop the bleeding?" Scott asked

"No," Peter said. "We don't want to move her and take the chance of hurting her even worse."

* * *

Everyone was silent. Everyone was looking down at the ground in complete silence as they came to the realization that it was Shelby, their strongest one, hurt.

* * *

Scott looked down at Shelby's motionless body and finally let his tears fall. Peter was still maintaining his emotions but Scott just couldn't anymore. 

Scott kept telling himself that Shelby was going to be okay. _She's so strong. She has to be okay. She'll be fine,_ Scott was saying to himself but he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

This was Shelby, the love of his life and one of the strongest people he'd ever met, and she was lying there completely helpless and there was nothing he could do to help her; there was nothing anyone could do.

* * *

(**A/N**)- A new story! I'm still writing "Love and War" and "The Truth Comes Out" so none of my readers for those stories have to worry about me abandoning them.

Okay, this is something new for me and by the summary you basically know what's going to happen for the most part in the next couple of chapters but after that it will get interesting. I'm hoping to be able to add a little bit of humor to this story but I'm not a very funny person so I'll see how that one goes.

Please review and tell me if you think I should continue this. If I get just one good review, I'll continue. And remember, I can handle harsh criticism so don't be shy if you have something bad to say.


	2. Come Back Soon

Shelby was laying on stretcher getting put into the back of an ambulance. She had bandages trying to slow the bleeding from her head but they were just getting filled with blood as well. The bleeding was slowing was not stopping.

One of the medics told Peter and Sophie that they could follow them but they couldn't be in the ambulance with them.

Peter and Sophie got in the truck and managed to squeeze all of the cliffhangers in with them. They were breaking a few laws by doing this though; Juliet had to sit on Auggie's lap and Daisy was on David's with Ezra up front with Peter and Sophie. They didn't care that they were breaking laws though, they just wanted to get to the hospital to make sure Shelby was okay.

The drive was really only about 10 or 15 minutes but it seemed, to the students, that it lasted an hour for they were both uncomfortable and worried about Shelby.

* * *

They finally pulled into the Hospital parking lot and unloaded the truck of all the students. Despite how worried they were and how much they wanted to get into the hospital, they had to stretch their legs out. 

Once they all stretched out it was like a race to who could get to the hospital doors first. Scott won, with Daisy, Peter and Sophie following very closely behind me. Scott threw the door open and ran through it as quickly as possible.

Peter ran up to the front desk and asked if they knew anything about Shelby Merrick but the lady knew nothing. She simply told them to wait out here and that the doctors would come out when they know something.

Everyone sat down expect for Scott. Scott started to pace back a forth, frustrated. He wanted to know what happened and he wanted to know it now.

Daisy looked up from her chair to Scott and noticed how uneasy he was. She sighed and looked back down to the magazine she was reading to try and distract herself. She thought about what she could do to help Shelby but she knew their was nothing; she had to just let the doctors do their thing.

Juliet looked up at Scott.

"Scott just try and relax," She said.

"Relax?" Scott asked as if the word wasn't in his vocabulary. "I can't relax right now,"

Juliet looked at Peter who was thinking the same thing she said. Peter shrugged. He knew no one would be able to get Scott relax no matter how much they tried; he loved Shelby too much.

Scott finally sat down but he couldn't sit still. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He brought his eyes to look at the clock and to him it seemed like time was going backwards. He couldn't handle just waiting to know what happened. All he wanted to hear right now was that Shelby was okay. Scott pulled his eyes from the time and leaned back in the chair.

Everyone was worried about Shelby. Even David who didn't really care about anyone sat there in silence. No one could sit still and the girls who were reading magazines weren't even really reading them; they would turn the pages and look at the woods but they couldn't process what they were reading. Everyone's mind was all for Shelby right now.

* * *

Daisy finally lost control and stood up quickly, walking over to the front desk just as fast. 

"What the hell is taking so long?" Daisy asked.

"Miss, I'm sorry but you need to relax and let the doctors work. I'm sure they're doing all they can to help your friend," The lady at the front desk responded in a very hesitant voice.

"They need to hurry up!" Daisy said.

"Miss, please just try and relax. They will come out once they know something," The lady responded.

Peter came up behind Daisy and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Come on Daisy," Peter said and half pulled her back over by the group to sit back down in the chair she was in before.

The chair Daisy sat in was directly across from Scott's and the two looked at each other both with the same look in their eyes and the same emotion showing across their faces: worry. They were both so worried about Shelby and neither of them knew how to control it or react to it. They were both so lost. There was nothing either of them could do but wait and the waiting was beginning to drive them insane.

Daisy and Scott both let sighs leave their mouths and sat back in their chairs.

The time went by slowly. The seconds seemed like minutes, the minutes like hours and no one was handling it well. Scott started to pace again, Juliet and Sophie were nervously flipping through magazines, David and Ezra were leaning back with their eyes closed but not asleep, Auggie was drawing in a notebook he brought with him, Peter was in his own world thinking about things and Daisy was sitting in her chair biting her nails.

* * *

Finally after almost an hour of waiting, a doctor came out by the group. Everyone rushed over to him but the doctor just raised her hand, telling everyone to be quiet. She motioned them all into a separate room where they all sat down in chairs waiting to be told what was going on. 

The doctor shook hands with Peter and Sophie and told everyone who she was; her name was Carol Price but she asked to be called Dr. Price.

"Well, what's wrong with Shelby?" Juliet asked.

"She has a severe concussion and her head needed stitches but other than that, it's just a bunch of bumps and bruises," Dr. Price said.

"So, she's okay?" Sophie asked.

Dr. Price shook her and took in a deep breath.

"Unfortunately, no. The concussion added in with the loss of blood and the blow to her head put her in a coma. But there's every chance to hope that she will come out of it,"

"A coma," Ezra said as if he needed it to be confirmed again.

Scott stood up from his chair as his eyes glazed over with un shed tears.

"She's gonna be okay though, right?" Scott asked softly.

"We think so," Dr. Price said.

"You think so?" Daisy asked getting emotional.

"It's hard to be positive but we all think that she'll be fine. She's fighting. If her body keeps up and if she doesn't have a reaction to any of the medication we have her one, she'll be fine,"

"I don't want a 'we think'! She's going to be fine," Scott almost screamed and then said very softly, "She has to be fine,"

Daisy walked next to Scott and pulled him into a hug. They both just broke down and let their emotions go at that. They cried in each others arms as they thought of the same things.

"She has to be okay," Scott mumbled through a sob while still being in Daisy's arms.

"She will be," Daisy responded and tried to keep her voice normal but one could tell that she was crying. She pulled away from the hug and looked Scott directly in the eyes. "She's a fighter, Scott. She'll be fine. If anyone can come out of this it's Shelby,"

"I can't live without her," Scott said and more tears fell from both of them.

Everyone else was either crying or trying not to cry. Peter was holding Sophie in his arms as she cried. Juliet was in Auggies arms crying as Auggie tried to fight back tears but a couple still fell. Ezra and David were both sitting in their chairs in a sort of shock and they had un shed tears in their eyes.

"Can we see her?" Peter asked as his voice cracked. He was fighting back tears.

Dr. Price was about to say 'no' but looked over to Scott who obviously wanted to see her and she nodded.

Everyone nodded slowly. Scott and Daisy pulled themselves up from the floor and walked slowly over to the door. Everyone followed Dr. Price out of the room and down the hallway to Shelby's room.

Peter and Sophie entered first followed by Juliet, Auggie, David and Ezra. Scott and Daisy were the last the enter.

Seeing Shelby lying on the bed, connected to machines that were practically keeping her alive, made everyone who didn't already cry finally cry. Peter finally let his tears fall, Auggie let his fall freely and David and Ezra finally let this whole thing sink in and cried. The sight of Shelby made Juliet and Sophie break down even more but it strangely made Scott and Daisy some what calmer. They at least saw that she was alive now.

Everyone watched Shelby lay there completely helpless and they had a feeling of unreality going through them. No one, up until this very moment, could fully grasp that it was Shelby, their strongest one, who was the one hurt and couldn't be helped by them.

Juliet was the first of them to go up and try to talk to Shelby.

"I know you and me have never really gotten along but..." Juliet's voice cracked and she had a pause and take a breath before continuing. "but I really hope you get better. You just have to," Juliet couldn't say anymore. She started to cry too fiercely after that.

"Shelby, you have to come out of this. Now we all know you can so just do it. We won't be able to deal if you leave us. Not yet," Auggie said and then stopped because she started to cry.

"This is really strange. I've never talked to someone in a coma before but here goes," David said and took in a deep breath to stop more tears from coming. "Just keep fighting like you always do and get yourself back to the real world with us,"

"I never thought you would be the one laying here helpless," Ezra said. "You were always so strong, the strongest of us all. Just, like David said, keep fighting like you always do and come back soon,"

"Shelby, you're like a daughter to me. I've known you and took care of you as best I could for over a year now and I don't know how I would handle it if you were gone. You were always one of the most rebellious of the bunch so all I'm asking now is that you continue to be your rebellious self and don't accept this. Come back to us," Peter said and started to cry.

"Shelby, you're the daughter I can never have. Just keep fighting," Sophie said and was barely understandable for she was crying too hard.

Daisy approached Shelby slowly and rested one of her hands on Shelby's shoulder.

"I'm not going to repeat what had already been said but I will say this: you surprised me. I never thought that you would be the helpless one. Just..." Daisy had to pause and get control of her emotions to stop more tears from falling. "Just come back soon. I don't know what I'd do without my best friend,"

Daisy lifted her hand from Shelby and started to cry. David walked over to Daisy and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting manor. He knew there was nothing he could do to help ease her pain as a friend or boyfriend but he was going to be there for her anyways.

Scott walked up next to Shelby and grabbed one of her hands. Just the touch of her skin on his made another tear fall from Scott's eyes. He sat on the bed next to her and looked down at the love of his life, the girl he could never live without. He lifted her hand to his mouth and laid a kiss on it as another tear left his eyes.

"You have to get better, Shel. I need you to get better," Scott said with another tear falling. "I don't know what I would do without you," Another tear. "You're too strong to be here helpless like this. Come back to me soon, Shel. I need you to come back," Another tear fell.

Scott leaned down and kissed Shelby's forehead. Tears were streaming down his face and he didn't care, he wasn't even trying to control them anymore. He sat up again and noticed a strand of Shelby's hair on her face. He brushed it away and his lips formed a small smile as he thought about her always did that to her and the smile she always gave him after. The smile left his face as more tears fell.

"I'm sorry but visiting hours are over now. You all can come back tomorrow. Visiting hours start at 7:00 a.m." Dr. Price said and felt bad that she was forcing these very emotional people to leave.

Scott kissed Shelby's hand again.

"I love you," Scott said softly to Shelby as she reluctantly let go of her and walked from the room with the others.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First, thank you so much for all of the reviews from: **Melms213, Snoopy22, Linkie, ScottandShelby4ever, SnowyOwl-17, nefftys, tracy, hdrox, keke1, bubbly, Mickey, AliciaClark** and **Ishbu girl.** Whoa! 13 reviews for one chapter. Thanks! I'm happy you guys enjoy this story!


	3. Breaking Down

Everyone walked into the kitchen still very quiet and sad about Shelby's accident 2 days earlier. Everyone, besides Scott, grabbed their food and sat down at the normal table and started to eat. Scott waited longer than the rest before grabbing his food and then he sat at a separate table away from anyone else.

"Why doesn't he want to sit with us?" Juliet asked as she watched Scott sit down at the separate table.

"The love of his life is in a coma, you dim wit. He wants to be alone," David replied with attitude and surprisingly coming to the defense of Scott.

"Hey, lay off her!" Auggie said to David, defending Juliet.

"Whatever," David said and took another bite of his food.

"Say what you want, David. I'm going over there to talk to him," Juliet said.

Jules stood up and walked over by Scott. She sat down across from him and smiled. He looked up and saw here but then looked strait back down and started to poke his food again.

"Aren't you at least going to take one bite?" Juliet asked.

"What?" Scott asked back.

"Of your food. You haven't touched it,"

"I'm not hungry. Why do you care anyways?"

"You can't not eat, Scott,"

"Sure I can. You do it all the time!" Scott said rudely and stood up quickly.

He rushed out of the kitchen and down by the docks.

Daisy sighed as Juliet sat back down. She looked at Jules and shook her head.

"He's such a jerk!" Jules said.

"He wants to be left alone!" Daisy shot back.

"Well that doesn't mean he has to be so mean to me,"

"Oh, yeah, 'cause you're always so nice to everyone else,"

"Well, I'm not like that,"

"No you're worse,"

Daisy stood up and left the kitchen.

"Great job, Jules!" Ezra said sarcastically and started to stand up to follow Daisy but David stopped him.

"No. Leave her alone," David said and Ezra sat back down.

* * *

Daisy walked down by Scott and sat next to him.

"What do you want?" Scott asked harshly.

"Relax. I'm just here to talk," Daisy replied calmly.

"About what?"

"Don't play dumb, Scott,"

Scott sighed.

"Fine. What do you want me to say about it? That I miss her? That I'm worried she's not going to be okay? That's the truth,"

"All that stuff's a start. Scott, we're all here for you. You don't have to shut us out like that. You're not the only one who's worried about her,"

"I know I'm not but none of them get it," Scott said and sounded frustrated.

"Do you think I do?" Daisy asked.

"You're the closest one. You're her best friend,"

"So I relate more?"

"And you're the only one who's not a complete pain in my ass the time,"

Daisy smiled.

"And here I was hoping to be the biggest pain in your ass," Daisy teased.

"No. You, at least, know when to leave me alone," Scott said.

"That's a hint that you want me to leave, isn't it?"

"Kinda,"

"Say no more,"

Daisy stood up and left Scott alone.

Scott looked down at the water and saw his reflection. He sighed. Scott picked up a rock and threw it at his reflection. It's not that he was blaming himself for what happened to Shelby or anything but he hated the fact that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help her; all he could do was wait.

* * *

Daisy walked into the girls dorm and sat down on her bed. She had a couple of hours before class and was bored and tired so she decided that she would take a nap but she couldn't sleep. Daisy tossed in her bed as she thought of Shelby on the hospital bed unconscious.

Daisy and Scott had both been to visit her every day since the accident but there's still no change. The doctors keep saying the same things and Daisy was getting sick of it. She needed something to tell her what was going to happen to Shelby but that would mean that she would need something to tell the future.

Daisy sat up abruptly and grabbed her tarot cards. She shuffled her deck and then cut the deck three times; one deck for past, one for present, one for future. Daisy rested her hands so that they were touching each deck and closed her eyes. She concentrated on Shelby.

Daisy flipped the first card over: the seven of Wands; a card that stands for great problems that one has to over come. In Shelby's case this was most likely her step-father's abuse.

Daisy flipped the second card over: Strength; this card could mean being physically, emotionally or mentally strong. It could also mean that one is fighting for something. For Shelby, it's probably to get out of the coma.

Daisy very slowly flipped the finally card over: The High Priestess; a card that has a lot to do with memory. Daisy blinked a few times. _What would memory have to do with Shelby's future?_ Daisy asked herself. She sighed slowly. _Well, at least it wasn't death!_

Daisy hears someone come in the dorm and quickly gathers her cards together and puts them away. Daisy looked up to see how it was who came in and saw Scott. He had tears streaming down his face and looked at Daisy with so much pain in his eyes.

"What happened?" Daisy asked, concerned.

"I can't do this," Scott said. "I can't just sit here and wait. I--I don't know how to deal with this,"

"Scott..."

Daisy stood up and pulled him into a hug. He cried in her arms. Scott couldn't deal with not being able to help Shelby. He loved her too much to be able to just here and wait for her to hopefully wake up. He came to Shelby for she was the only one who would really understand how he felt.

Scott suddenly pulled away from Daisy.

"She has to be okay. She just has to be, right?" Scott said.

Daisy wanted to talk about the reading she just did but didn't feel that it was the right time so she kept quiet about that.

"The doctors say she's going to be fine," Daisy said.

"No, they say that there's every hope of her being fine!"

"Well then trust them,"

"No! Every hope isn't good enough,"

Scott grabbed one of the chairs and threw it across the room.

"It's not good enough!" Scott screamed. "I need to know that she's going to be okay!"

Scott had more tears streaming down his cheeks. He went over to Shelby's vacant bed and sat down on it, putting his head in his hands.

"She has to be okay," Scott said more to himself than to Daisy.

He laid down on her bed and grabbed her pillow. It still smelled like her. Scott pulled the pillow close to himself and held it like he would've Shelby. He was still crying and he couldn't stop the tears from falling.

The sight of Scott was making it harder for Daisy to maintain her emotions. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing herself not to let tears fall. She walked over to Scott on Shelby's bed and sat down next to him. She put her hand on his back and started to rub it gently, trying to calm him down.

Scott sobbed and rocked on the bed as Daisy comforted him.

"I can't do this," Scott said as he sat up and looked at Daisy. "I can't go on without her. If she's not okay than I don't know what I'd do,"

Daisy pulled Scott into another hug.

"She's going to be fine," Daisy said reassuringly.

* * *

Peter's on the phone, still trying to get a hold of Shelby's mother. He has been having no luck for 2 days now. He finally heard someone pick up on the other line.

"Hello?" Alice Merrick asked.

"Ms. Merrick, it's Peter Scarbrow from Horizon. I've been trying to get in contact with you for days now," Peter said.

"Yes, I was out of town for the weekend. What is it that you need?"

"Well, Shelby had an accident and is in the hospital,"

"What happened?"

"She fell while we were out on a hike and hit her head badly. She's in a coma right now," Peter responded and sounded upset just thinking about it.

"She's in a coma?" Alice questioned but didn't sound concerned.

"Yes,"

"And what do you want me to do about that?"

Peter blinked a few times in utter shock and what he just heard. Shelby's Mother didn't seem to care at all about what happened.

"What happened?" Peter heard Jess ask with worry in the backround.

"Mr. Scarbrow, I'm sorry, but I have to go right now," Alice said and hung up at that.

Peter hung up the phone still in shock.

"What happened?" Sophie asked.

"She doesn't even care," Peter said, sounding dumbfounded.

"What?"

"She sounded like she didn't care. And when I told her she said, 'well what do you want me to do about that?'"

"Oh my God! No wonder Shelby doesn't like her mom. That arrogant little Bi-"

"Sophie!"

"Sorry," Sophie looked down and stopped herself from saying anything else.

* * *

"What happened?" Jess asked her Mom with worry.

"Nothing," Alice replied.

"Peter doesn't call for no reason, now tell me what happened!" Jess demanded.

"Don't you take that tone with me!"

"Fine. Just tell me what happened,"

"Shelby's in a coma. I guess she had some kind of accident on a hike or something,"

"And you don't even care!"

"Hey! After what she put us through she should be happy that I didn't put her in the coma," Alice said.

"What are you talking about?" Jess asked.

"She destroyed our lives, Jess. By calling the cops on Walt we're left with nothing,"

"Left with nothing! I'm not getting raped every night. I would say that's something! Are we, at least, going to go see her?"

"No. I don't have time,"

"She's you're daughter. You're suppose to make time!"

Jess stormed off into her room and slammed the door behind her. She knew that she had to go see Shelby but she also knew that she would have to do that without her Mother.

Jess sighed. She took a duffel bag out and started to back it with some clothes and all the mother she had which was only about 50 dollars. She threw the duffel bag out of her window and climbed out after.

She looked in the living room window and saw her Mother still in there. Jess took a final glance at her cold-hearted Mother and started to walk away from the house and down the street.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First, thank you so much for all of the reviews from: **Melms213, Snoopy22, Linkie, ScottandShelby4ever, SnowyOwl-17, nefftys, tracy, hdrox, keke1, bubbly, Mickey, AliciaClark, Ossie, rogue-angel07, Snoopy22**and **Ishbu girl.** I'm happy that you all enjoy this story.

I'm okay with this chapter but I think it could've been better. Let me know what you all think though. I know that I might have been out of character with Shelby's mother but I hinted that Alice would act like that in the first chapter.

As always, please review!


	4. Through the Door

Jess was sitting in a seat on a buss. She yawned as she looked out the window. A sudden smile came on to her face as she saw a street sign and noticed how very close she was getting to Horizon and to Shelby.

* * *

Alice Merrick half walked, half stumbled into the kitchen of her house. She was a wreck. Her hair was messed up, she hadn't slept since she received the phone call from Peter, she had no idea where one of her daughters was and her other one was in a coma.

Alice went to a cabinet and grabbed a bottle of Brandy that she still had around from when Walt was there for his favorite drink was a Brandy Manhattan. She took a small glass and poured the alcohol into it. She quickly drank most of the vile liquid and sat down at the kitchen table.

She was re-playing the conversation she had with Jess after the phone call and shook her head, disgusted with herself. She took another sip of drink and exhaled loudly, trying to get the horrible taste out of her mouth. _I'm a terrible mother!_ Alice thought to herself and took another drink.

"I'm a terrible Mother!" Alice screamed to an empty house.

She threw the glass of Brandy at the wall across from her. She watched the glass break and the liquid leak onto the wall and down onto the floor.

Alice sighed to herself loudly and stood up. She walked back into the kitchen. She grabbed herself another drink, this time a full glass of strait vodka. She took a deep gulp of the drink and went back over to sit at the table again.

She put the glass down on the table and looked over to a semi-recent picture of Shelby, Jess and herself in a nice, wooden picture frame. She smiled briefly at the picture and then put her head in her hands. To say that she cried would be a vast understatement, she bawled.

* * *

Scott woke up earlier than he usually did and got ready quickly. He barely slept that night anyways for he kept re-living his break down to Daisy. He felt so ridiculous but he knew that everything he said was true.

Scott walked out of the boys dorm and started to walk around the grounds. It was barely sunrise and he didn't think that anyone was up but then he saw Daisy down by the docks. He walked down by her and sat next to her. She didn't look surprised to see him at all. She simply looked over at him and then turned her attention back to the water.

"Can't sleep either?" Daisy asked.

"No," Scott responded, shaking his head.

Scott looked over at Daisy and opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. He wanted to thank her for being there for him but he couldn't think of the words. He tried again but when he opened his mouth, once again, nothing came out.

"Thanks," Scott finally got out.

Daisy looked at him with one raised eye brow.

"For what?" She asked.

"Being there for me yesterday, when I..."

"Had a mental and emotional break down." Daisy finished for him.

"Yeah,"

"You're welcome,"

Silence fell over the two as they both thought of the same thing: Shelby. They let their thoughts wander and were completely oblivious to their surroundings. They were interrupted when Peter came up behind them and started talking.

"I was looking for you two," He said. "You guys shouldn't go wandering around the grounds without telling anyone."

"Sorry," Scott said for both of them.

"Yeah. We just couldn't sleep." Daisy added.

"It's okay. Now come on, it's time for breakfast."

Scott and Daisy stood up and followed Peter into the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

Alice was rushing around her room, backing a suitcase. She grabbed everything she could remember to grab and put it in the suitcase that was lying on her bed. She had tears streaming down her face as she thought about Shelby and Jess. She thought of how she allowed everything with Walt to happen and how she treated her girls afterwards and could do nothing but cry and feel terrible.

* * *

Jess stepped off the bus with the small bag that she had packed in her hand. She looked around at the buildings and started to make her way towards Horizon. It wasn't a long walk but it seemed like it was taking forever for Jess.

Finally she sat a sign that read: "My. Horizon" and a smile crossed herself. The smile quickly left and she remembered why she was here, her sister was in a coma and lying in a hospital hurt.

Jess walked up to the main cabin and up to the front desk, she knew where everything was from when she was here last year for a while. Shelby had told her everything she needed to know about being at Horizon for she was planning on being a student.

Jess looked around and tried to get a feel for the place but was abruptly shot from her thoughts when Sophie ran over to her and pulled her into an extremely tight hug. Sophie kept saying things like 'oh my god' 'what are you doing here?' 'how'd you get here?' 'oh, Jess' but Jess didn't respond to any of them, she was just happy to be here.

Finally, Sophie let go of Jess and said, "Oh! We have to go get Peter. Come on."

Sophie took Jess' bag from her hand and put it on the floor. She grabbed her hand and walked her out of the main office and went towards the kitchen where she knew Peter would be. Jess was being half dragged by Sophie who seemed to be in a huge rush.

Upon entering the kitchen Jess noticed all of the Cliffhangers sitting a table. Peter walked over to Sophie and Jess and pulled Jess into a hug like Sophie had done before but not quite as tight.

"Jess, what are you doing here?" Peter asked.

"I'm here to see Shelby," Jess responded. "My mom wasn't going to come so I left in the middle of the night and took a bus."

Scott and Daisy came up behind Peter. Scott looked at Jess sternly after he heard how she got here. Scott knew what Jess did to get here the last time she came and he wanted to make sure she didn't do it again. He remembered how much just thinking about it had hurt Shelby.

"Really. I took a bus the whole way. I had money saved." Jess said, now concentrating on Scott.

"Promise?" Scott asked for he knew Shelby would want to be sure.

"Yes," Jess responded with a nod.

Daisy spoke up, "Well, we're going to go visit Shelby after we're done eating so you can come with us then. Right Peter?"

"Right," Peter said. "And see if any of the other Cliffhangers want to go see her today."

"I'll ask them. You can finish your food," Scott said to Daisy.

"What about you?" Daisy asked, referring to how he hadn't finished his breakfast either.

"Be happy I ate anything today," Scott said.

Scott took a final glance back at Jess and then went back to the table to see if anyone else wanted to visit Shelby that day. Daisy smiled at Jess and then followed Scott back to the table to finish her breakfast.

Peter looked down at Jess and said, "Come on." He motioned her to follow him out of the kitchen and back to the main office. "We have to call your mom and tell her that you're here."

"Do you have to tell her?" Jess groaned as she followed Peter.

"You know I do. You may not be a student here but you know the rules."

"Fine. She probably won't even care anyways."

"Don't say that, Jess. You're her daughter. Of course she'll care."

"Oh, really? She didn't care when you told her about Shelby, did she?" Jess asked back with attitude.

"I'm sure Mother is just..."

"Just what?"

"I don't know," Peter said and shook his head. "I still have to call her and tell her though. I don't have a choice."

"Fine," Jess responded as they walked in the main office.

* * *

Alice closed the small suitcase that she had packed on her bed. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and brushed her tangled hair quickly. She grabbed the suitcase and left her room.

She entered the kitchen, grabbed her wallet and left the house. She walked frantically down the street, not trusting herself to drive. She stopped at the train station and bought the earliest ticket to Agnus.

The train wasn't arriving for another half hour but Alice decided to stay and wait for the train there. She sat in a seat and looked a small picture that she kept in her wallet of Shelby, Jess and herself. it wasn't the same picture that she had at the house, this one was more recent. Alice wept to herself as she looked at the picture.

* * *

Peter picked up the phone and dialed the number from memory. He waited patiently for an answer but no one ever picked up. The phone rang seven times before he hung it up. Peter waited a few moments and then tried again. he dialed the number and waited for an answer but once again, he didn't get on and hung up this time after eight rings.

"No answer?" Jess asked, even though it was pretty obvious.

"No answer," Peter stated.

"She's probably passed out somewhere in the house."

"What makes you say that?"

"She was probably drinking. After the initial shock of what happened to Shelby sank in and she saw that I was gone, she probably started to drink. She does that sometimes."

"Why?" Peter asked, confused. "It doesn't solve anything."

"Well..."Jess started. "It kinda does. I don't know what's in the alcohol but she realizes all of her mistakes when she drinks. And then after she does, she's a good mom again. But it usually only lasts for so long."

Jess looked up at Peter and saw him looking at her.

"Maybe since this is something serious, it'll be for good. Do you think that's possible?" Jess asked Peter.

"I don't know, Jess. You're mom can only be a good Mother if she wants to be. It's all up to her." Peter replied sympathetically.

"I know she loves us and cares about us. She just has a hard time showing it sometimes," Jess said.

Peter sighed and said, "Come on. It's time to go see Shelby."

Jess nodded and they both walked out of the main office and back into the kitchen by all of the other Cliffhangers. Peter walked up to Scott.

"Who's coming?" Peter asked.

"I guess, all of us. They all wanted to come today." Scott responded with a shrug.

"All right. Well, go outside by the truck and start piling everyone in." Peter said and thought to himself, _I hope everyone fits in the truck._

"Okay. Don't take too long though. I wanna see her," Scott replied.

Scott started to walk out of the kitchen towards the truck and was followed by all of the other Cliffhangers and Jess. They walked to the truck, that was unlocked, and everyone started to squeeze themselves in the back. Juliet was sitting on Auggie's lap on the far left, then went David, Ezra and Daisy. Scott always sat up front with Peter and Sophie and today Jess would be up front with him, too.

Peter came up to the truck with Sophie and got in the drivers seat and Scott, Jess and Sophie all climbed into the passenger seat. Peter looked back at the students and saw Juliet on Auggie's lap.

"No way," He said.

"Come on, Peter. If we don't sit like this than there won't be enough room." Juliet said.

"It's against the law, Juliet."

"So we won't get caught,"

Peter shook his head and mumbled to himself, "I shouldn't be doing this."

Peter turned around, started the car and drove to the hospital.

* * *

Everyone stopped outside of Shelby's hospital room. Usually Scott went in first and then would go in again right before they left but this time he looked at Jess for he thought it was only right that she went in to see Shelby first.

"Go ahead. We'll wait out here if you want." Scott said to Jess and was practically speaking for everyone.

"Do you think you two can come with me?" Jess asked, pointing to Scott and Daisy.

"Why do you want only us to come?" Daisy asked.

"Because you guys seem like you two understand the most and I don't want to go in by myself."

"Why not?" Peter asked.

"I'm not ready for that yet," Jess replied. "Hell! I'm not even sure I'm ready for this but I'm going to do it anyways."

"I'll come in with you." Scott said.

"We will come in with you." Daisy corrected.

Scott nodded to Daisy and brought his attention back to Jess. Daisy smiled at Scott and David glared. He understood that Daisy and Scott were going to have to be there for each other but he was getting angry at the fact that Daisy was going to Scott for support instead of him.

Daisy looked over at David and saw that glare. She gave him a questioning look but he shook his head and mouthed, "later". Daisy nodded and turned back to Scott and Jess.

Jess took a deep breath to try and relax herself but it didn't work. Her hands were shaking and she her breathing was uneasy. Jess was scared of what she was going to see on the other side of the door. She didn't want to loose control at the sight of Shelby laying on the bed unconscious and having machines keeping her alive. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to do this. She didn't want to see her big sister, the person she's always looked up to, so helpless.

Jess lifted a shaking hand to the door knob but didn't turn it. Her blue eyes were fixed on her hand gripping the door knob but she couldn't will herself to open the door.

"It's okay, Jess. I was afraid to go in there the first time, too." Scott said sympathetically.

Jess closed her eyes, took another deep breath and let it slowly. Her hand finally turned the door knob and opened the door. Jess took in a sharp breath when she saw Shelby lying on the bed. She closed her eyes quickly and a tear fell from each eye. She looked back at her sister and walked very slowly up to the bed. Jess rested her hand on Shelby's and licked her suddenly dry lips.

Jess looked back at Scott and Daisy who also came into the room with her and asked, "She's going to be okay, right?"

"The doctors say there's every hope she's going to be fine." Daisy replied in a calm voice.

"Every hope doesn't mean for sure."

"I know, Jess." Scott said.

"She's strong. She'll be fine." Daisy said.

"I know. Shelby's the strongest person I've ever met. If anyone can come out of this it's Shelby." Jess said, looking down at Shelby as another tear fell from one of her eyes.

Jess squeezed Shelby's hand lightly and then let go. Jess was ready to go. She couldn't handle seeing Shelby so helpless, she wasn't used to it and she didn't like it.

"You guys can stay with her. I need to...be somewhere else." Jess said in a sad voice and walked out of the room.

Peter saw Jess walk out of the room and she was about to run down the hall but Peter grabbed her by her arms and turned her to look at him with tears in her eyes.

"Jess," Peter started but was cut off by Jess.

"I just need to be alone right now." Jess said quickly and turned to leave.

"Wait, Jess--" Peter started but was once again cut off.

"No, Peter. Just leave her be. She needs to be alone." Scott said from behind him.

"And since when did you become the expert on dealing other peoples emotions?" David asked with much attitude.

"Since I know exactly how she feels," Scott replied without taking any notice to the attitude in David's voice.

Jess walked down the hallway and then down to the truck. She sat down on the pavement next to the truck and pulled her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and held them to her while crying.

"She's going to be okay. She's going to be okay." Jess kept repeating those words over and over again as she cried.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First, thank you so much for all of the reviews! Second, I got a lot of reviews saying that I was messing up Alice Merrick as a character and let me take this time to say: I did that on purpose! It's all part of the story. She's not staying a bitch as one might be able to tell from this chapter.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As always, please review! Good or Bad.


	5. Wake Up

Alice Merrick walked into the main office at Horizon. She looked around and didn't see anyone right away but she wasn't expecting to either for it was almost midnight by the time she arrived. Alice walked around slowly, still looking for someone and tripped over a binder that was on the floor. She fell and a grunting sound left her mouth.

Peter came running out to where the sound was and saw Alice. Despite the fact that he thought very little of her right now, he helped her up off of the floor.

"Ms. Merrick," Peter said. "If I may ask, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see my daughter, what do you think I'm doing here?" She snapped back. Alice took a deep breath, let it out slowly and said, "I'm sorry. I've just had a bad few days as you can probably tell."

"Which daughter are you here to see?"

"What do you mean?" Alice asked and sounded confused for she had no idea that Jess was at Horizon.

"I tried calling you when she arrived but you must have already been gone. Jess is here, too."

"Oh. She is!" Alice sounded relieved. "I had no idea where she was and I was so worried and...where is she? Can I see her?"

"In the morning. She's asleep right now." Peter said calmly.

"And then me and her could go visit Shelby." Alice sounded sad again.

"Well, Jess saw Shelby earlier and she had some trouble seeing her so I don't know if she'll want to go again so soon."

"Oh. How is Shelby doing?"

"No better, I'm afraid. Ms. Merrick, if you don't me asking, if you're here to see Shelby and you're worried about her then why did you sound like you didn't care when I spoke to you on the phone?"

Alice looked down and remembered exactly what Peter was talking about.

"I'm not a very good Mother, Mr. Scarbrow," She said. "I'm afraid I've been blaming Shelby for a lot of things lately. I'm not sure what was going through my mind that night."

"It's okay. Parents are allowed to make a few mistakes," Peter responded.

"I've been making more than I should be allowed to though."

"You're here now. That's all that matters. Do you have a place to stay?"

"I'll go to a motel. I'm sorry I even came here, I didn't realize it was this late."

"It's no problem, Ms. Merrick. Do you know where the closest motel is?" Peter asked.

"No, I don't actually. Do you think you could give me directions?" Alice asked.

"How about I just call you a cab?"

"That would be good. Thank you."

Peter smiled and picked up the phone. He dialed the number to the local cab company and asked for a cab. After a few minutes, the cab pulled up and Alice got in the back seat. Peter told the driver to take her to the closest, nice motel and they were gone.

Peter shook his head and blinked a few times. He walked back into the office and was greeted by Sophie.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"That was Jess' and Shelby's Mother. She came here to see Shelby." Peter responded and sounded tired.

"I thought she didn't care?"

"That's what I thought, too but I guess I was wrong."

"You sound tired. How about we go home and go to bed. We have to get up in..." Sophie looked down at her watch and then back up to Peter. "6 hours, 5 if you want to get a good run and shower in. So come on, Mountain Man. You sound tired anyway."

"Bed sounds nice."

"I thought you'd like that idea." Sophie said and kissed Peter.

* * *

Jess was walking around the grounds around sunrise the next morning. She couldn't sleep and didn't feel like just sitting in bed doing nothing so she decided to walk around before she had to go meet everyone for breakfast.

"You're up early." Peter said from behind her.

"I never fell asleep." Jess corrected.

"I was just coming to get you anyway. Come on, I need you in my office."

"I'm not even a student here, what'd I do?"

"What makes you think you're getting in trouble?" Peter asked.

"If I'm not getting in trouble than why am I being taken to your office?" Jess asked back.

"You'll find out."

"You know I hate surprises, right?"

"You get that from Shelby. Now come on."

Jess followed Peter into his office and saw her mom. She went wide-eyed and couldn't bring words to come from her mouth. Alice rushed over to Jess and pulled her into a hug. Jess lightly hugged back but pulled away when she could talk.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Jess asked.

"I'm here to see Shelby and then Peter told me you were here when I arrived." Alice responded and pulled Jess into her arms again. "Oh my little girl."

Jess let her Mother hug her and hugged back but this time like she meant it. The hug was interrupted by Scott and Daisy coming into Peter's office early like they've been doing since Shelby was in the hospital. They came to his office early and would go to see Shelby.

"Whoa." Scott said for that was all he could think to say.

"Hello. I'm Alice Merrick." Alice said.

"I know who you are." Scott said and sounded almost rude.

Alice looked sort of taken aback but then Scott relaxed and apologized.

"It's okay. I guess I deserved that." Alice said.

"Hi. I'm Daisy." Daisy said trying to break up the tension.

"Hello Daisy. And you are?" She asked Scott.

"Oh. I'm Scott Barringer."

"Shelby's talked about you two a lot."

"Right. So I take it you're coming with us to visit Shelby?" Scott asked.

"Yes," Alice said. "I am. That is of course, if it's okay with Mr. Scarbrow."

"Yes, of course. Visiting hours start in about 10 minutes so let's get going." Peter said and motioned everyone for the door. "Are you coming Jess?"

"I don't know. I had a hard enough time doing it yesterday, Peter." Jess replied.

"Well, no one's forcing you."

"I know that. but I think I should be there for my mom."

Alice smiled and Jess walked over to her mom. They walked out of the office and to the truck together.

Scott and Daisy gave Peter confused looks but he just shook his head clearly saying 'never mind'. The two shook their heads and walked to the truck behind Peter. Everyone piled into the truck and Peter drove to the hospital.

* * *

Alice walked into Shelby's hospital room and saw her on the bed. A couple of tears left her eyes and she raised her hand to cover her mouth in order to stop a scream. Jess, Scott, Daisy and Peter followed Alice in the door and Jess walked over to her Mother to comfort her.

Scott felt bad for Alice but couldn't help practically ignoring her and walking over to Shelby. He sat on the edge of her bed and held her hand like he always did when he went to see her. Scott brushed a piece of her blonde hair off of her face and smiled at the familiar movement.

Alice sat down on the bed next to Shelby and gripped her other hand. Scott finally brought his attention to Alice as she started to speak.

"I'm so sorry, Shelby. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you. I should've been here before. I'm so sorry, so sorry." Alice kept repeating the words to Shelby.

Alice kept her grip on Shelby left hand as Scott kept his on her right hand. They were both thinking the exact same think: wake up! As if on cue, Shelby's right hand moved. Scott let go of her hand and stood from the bed. Alice mirrored Scott's movements as Shelby's left hand twitched.

"I think she's waking up." Scott said softly and smiled.

Shelby's head turned towards Scott and she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Scott with a huge smile on his face. He had unshed, happy tears in his eyes.

"Doctor!" Peter screamed out the door.

"Oh Shelby!" Scott said and leaned down to hug her but she inched away.

Scott stood up again and looked down at Shelby confused.

"Who are you?" Shelby asked, looking directly at Scott.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks for all the reviews. I had several telling me that I should wake Shelby up already and as I would read them I would sit there and say, "I'm doing that in the next chapter!" for I already knew I was going to.

I know this chapter in pretty short. I was going to have this one and the next one just be one chapter but I felt that it had to be separate ones.

Also, for any of my readers who care, the next "The Truth Comes Out" chapter will be written next so I should have it up semi-shortly.

As always, please review whether it be good or bad.


	6. The News

Scott inched away from Shelby's bed in complete shock. Then, started to move back towards her again.

"Shelby," Scott said in a voice that clearly said that he thought she was playing stupid. "It's me: Scott."

"Who?" Shelby asked confused. She looked around at everyone in the room. "Who are you people? What am I doing here?"

Before anyone could even think of how to answer, Dr. Price came into the room. She looked shocked that Shelby was even awake. She looked over at everyone and motioned them to leave the room.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Price said. "But you're all going to have to go out and wait in the waiting room while we run tests on Shelby. We have to make sure everything's okay with her."

"Everything's not okay with her," Daisy protested. "She doesn't know who we are."

Dr. Price let a worried sigh leave her mouth and said, "Okay. You still need go out and wait in the waiting room. I'm sorry."

Scott left reluctantly, still looking at Shelby. He was the last one out of the room.

Shelby looked at the doctor and asked, "What the hell is going on?"

Shelby was frustrated. She had no idea what was going on. She didn't know who those people in the room were. She didn't know who the doctor was. She didn't know why she was in the hospital. And worst of all, she didn't know she was.

* * *

Scott paced back and forth in the waiting room. The minutes seemed like hours to him. He sat down in a chair, but he wasn't still. He started to bounce of his legs and he was continuously running his hands through his hair. He looked at the clock and watched as the seconds ticked away. For a while he felt that time was going backwards, but he knew that it wasn't. He stood up from the chair quickly forcing it to move a little and started to pace again. 

Daisy stood up from her chair and walked over to Scott. She stopped his pacing by reaching up and putting her hands sternly on his shoulders.

"Will you stop it?" She asked frustrated. "You're making me even more nervous."

Daisy let go of Scott's shoulders and sat down in the chair again.

Scott looked down at her in disbelief.

"You should be nervous," Scott said. "Shelby doesn't remember who were are."

"Thanks for the news report. How about the weather?" Daisy replied sarcastically, and rudely, to Scott and turned away.

"Hey!" Peter said loudly to stop the two teens bickering.

Both of them looked at Peter and then looked down. Scott sat down in a chair again and looked at the clock. Time was still going by slowly for him. He looked over at Jess and Alice Merrick. He couldn't possibly imagine how they were feeling right now. He shook his head, looked down and sighed.

* * *

After what seemed like hours, Scott's head shot up as he heard foot steps coming down the hall way. He was, obviously, hearing foot steps the entire time for he was in a busy hospital but when the steps grew increasingly closer, he knew it was Dr. Price and that it was about Shelby. 

"The good news is: Shelby's okay." Dr. Price said and paused. "Unfortunately, there is bad news. The bad news is: Shelby has a pretty severe case of amnesia. The type of memory loss Shelby's suffering from is very rare though. She remembers the basic things such as who's president, how many fingers, and what's 2+2. We even asked her more complicated questions and surprisingly she could give the name, symbol and atomic number of almost every element on The Table of Elements, but she doesn't remember who she is. And in not remembering who she is, she doesn't remember who any of you are either."

"Will she recover from this?" Alice asked in a shaky voice, fighting back more tears.

"There's a good chance she will but there's also a chance that she won't. We're not sure. There's no way to be positive about something like this." Dr. Price replied in a gentle voice.

_Of course! I should've seen this coming. That's what The High Priestess card meant. Why didn't I figure it out sooner?_ Daisy mentally scolded herself.

"She is okay, though. Right?" Jess asked.

"She's doing well so far. But, one thing I will say: she has an attitude." Dr. Price said as if surprised by it.

Everyone sort of chuckled.

"That's Shelby for ya," Peter commented.

"Will she have to stay in the hospital until she gets her memory back?" Scott asked.

"No," Dr. Price replied. "She won't. But we're not sure if it's a good idea that she be placed back in Horizon. Then again, it's not up to us. We would like to keep her for tonight and monitor her while she sleeps but after that, it's up to you," She looked to Alice Merrick. "if she goes home with you or if she goes back to Horizon."

"I think she'd want to go to her home," Alice said. Peter was about to argue but Alice cut him off. "She will be going back to Horizon with Mr. Scarbrow. As much as I may not like to admit it, Horizon is her home."

Peter sighed, relieved. Daisy and Scott let our equally relieved sighs.

"Is that okay with you, Mr. Scarbrow?" Dr. Price asked.

"Yes," Peter replied. "Yes, of course."

"Okay. She still has to stay here tonight though. You can come and pick her up in the morning."

"Can we see her before we leave?" Scott asked.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea. She's very..." Dr. Price paused, trying to think of the correct word. "...moody right now."

"Doctor," Daisy said. "She's always like that. This is nothing new."

Dr. Price chuckled and nodded.

"Fine. But only for a few minutes." Dr. Price said and motioned the group to follow her down the hall and to Shelby's room.

Everyone walked into Shelby's room. Shelby's attention shot to them once the door was open.

"Hi, Shelby." Peter said gently.

"Don't call me that," Shelby snapped.

"What would you rather us call you?"

Shelby thought about that question for several moments. She had no idea what she wanted them to call her. The only reason she even told them not to call her that was because she didn't think that was her name. She didn't know her name. She didn't know anything about herself.

Shelby gave up on thinking of something and said, "I guess you guys can call me that. I mean, that's what my name is. Right?"

"Yes," Peter said and nodded.

"Okay, I know I'm suppose to know you all but I don't so why don't you guys tell me who you all are. Wait. Actually, let me guess.." Shelby pointed to Alice. "Mom?"

Alice nodded and gave a weak smile.

"Sister?" Shelby asked while looking at Jess.

"Yeah. I'm Jess," Jess replied.

"Dad?" Shelby asked Peter.

"No," Peter said. "Teacher. Well, principal and councilor."

"You're principal and you care so much about me that you're here?" Shelby asked, confused for she didn't understand how close Peter was to all of the students.

"It's a little bit more complicated than that." Peter replied calmly.

"Whatever," Shelby dismissed, shook her head slightly and looked at Daisy. "Friend?"

"Best friend, actually," Daisy corrected with a small smile.

Shelby smiled, nodded and turned to Scott. She scanned him up and down and the only thing she could thing was 'wow!'. He was attractive with no doubt but there was also a chance he could have been her brother so she wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

"I'm not really sure about you," Shelby said to Scott.

"Well, I'm a mix between best friend and boyfriend," Scott replied softly.

_Boyfriend? Go me._ Shelby thought to herself.

"Right," Shelby replied slowly with her eyes still locked on Scott. "Well, then I guess I'm one lucky girl."

The comment from Shelby brought a faint smile onto Scott's face. He knew, deep down, that it wasn't really Shelby saying it to him but it made him smile regardless. He was just happy that she was awake and physically healthy for the time being.

"I'm sorry but everyone needs to leave now. Mr. Scarbrow you can come a pick up Shelby in the morning." Dr. Price said.

"Wait. What? I have to stay here tonight? Why can't I go home? No offense, but I don't like hospitals." Shelby protested.

"It's all right, Shelby. I'll be here in the morning to get you. It's only one night." Peter said.

"You will be here?" Shelby asked confused.

"Yes. You'll be staying at school with them," Alice said.

"What? Am I such a nuisance to you?" Shelby asked.

"No," Daisy protested. "Trust me, if you had your memory, you would want to be at Horizon."

"I guess I should believe you. You're my best friend, right?"

"Okay," Peter said. "I'll be back in the morning to pick you up, Shelby."

"Right..." She trailed off, not knowing what to call him. "Mr. Scarbrow, right?"

"Actually, you can call me Peter."

"Peter? I trust you so much that I can call you by your first name?"

"All the students do actually," Peter replied.

"Oh. Okay well, I guess I'll see you in the morning, Peter," Shelby said and turned to Daisy. "I don't know your name either."

"Daisy," She replied.

"And what's you're name, cowboy?" Shelby asked Scott.

"What?" Scott asked, shocked at the nickname Shelby had just used for him. It was what Shelby had always called him before. "What did you just call me?"

"Cowboy," Shelby responded, confused. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Scott said quickly. "It's just...that's what you use to always call me."

"Oh," Shelby said softly.

"Well, my name's Scott. You can call me that."

"Right."

Shelby smiled weakly as she saw Scott turn away from her. Everyone left the room and walked down the hall. They parted their ways once they exited the hospital and went to their own vehicles. They came to an understanding that Alice and Jess would go back home after seeing Shelby again tomorrow and that should anything change, Peter alert Alice immediately.

On the ride home, Peter gave strict instructions that Scott and Daisy were not to tell the other students about Shelby's amnesia. He thought that it better if he told them all together. He would tell Sophie that night and in the morning, before he went to pick up Shelby, he would tell all of the other Cliffhangers.

* * *

Peter and Sophie were in Peter's office. Peter was sitting behind his desk with his hands folded if front of him on the desk. Sophie was leaving against the side of a book case in total shock. Peter had just told Sophie that Shelby woke up with no memory and that Alice agreed to let Shelby stay at Horizon with them. 

"Amnesia?" Sophie questioned, still shocked.

"Yeah. But the doctor says it's a strange case. She remembers normal things but she doesn't remember who she or anyone else is. I mean, she could even name almost the whole Table of Elements." Peter replied.

"Well, she's always been great in Chemistry. Science was always her strong point." Sophie complied.

"I know."

"Okay, now is Shelby really allowed to stay here?"

"Yes. As long as we have her Mother's permission which we do."

"Yeah," Sophie said. "That's something I'm really surprised about. Then again, maybe just didn't want to deal with her."

"I don't think so, Soph." Peter protested. "I mean, you should've seen her face." Peter sighed. "She wants Shelby here because she knows that's what Shelby would want."

"If you say so," Sophie replied. "What are you gonna tell the kids?"

"The truth. I already told Scott and Daisy not to tell them anything. I'm going to tell them in the morning before I got and get Shelby from the hospital."

"How are they dealing with it?" Sophie asked.

"Scott seems pretty hurt by it, I don't think he's gonna take it well. And Daisy seems to be handling it fine so far. But, then again, she didn't really say much tonight." Peter responded.

"So in the morning we have to tell a bunch of students that someone who is like family to them won't know who they are," Sophie summed up. "Sometimes I hate this job."

"So do I," Peter agreed. "But, for right now, our only job is to get some sleep. It's been a long day for everyone."

"I agree."

The couple walked out of Peter's office. They did their rounds and made sure everyone was in bed like they were suppose to be and went home to go to sleep themselves.

* * *

Scott turned over in his bed and a sigh left his mouth. He looked up at a random spot on the ceiling and remembered how Shelby was at the hospital. When she first woke up, she focused on him and had no idea who he was. It hurt him. It's not that he was trying to take it personally or that he thought it was just him but the fact that the women he loved had absolutely no idea who he was, hurt him. 

When Shelby called him 'cowboy' he was surprised, no doubt. He just thought it was so errie that the nickname Shelby gave him a year ago is what he would be called. Only Shelby ever called him 'cowboy'.

Scott turned over again and tried to fall asleep but it was impossible for him. He knew that the relaxing, wonderful thing known as sleep would cease to visit him the entire night.

* * *

Daisy sat up in her bed and pulled her knees protectively to her chest. She had so many questions going through her mind and they were making her crazy. She wasn't use to being the one with all the questions as a apposed to the one who had all the answers like she usually was; she wasn't use to feeling so utterly and helplessly lost. 

She was worried about Shelby. True, she was awake and physically healthy but she had no clue who anyone was, including herself. Daisy wasn't sure if she would ever get her memory back or if it was even possible.

_What if her memory never returns?_ Daisy questioned herself.

Daisy shook her head slightly and tried to rid her mind of everything. She lie back down in her bed to go to sleep but she was left gazing up at the ceiling. Sleep wouldn't come. It wasn't that Daisy wasn't tired for she was, it was simply that she had too much on her mind and couldn't stop thinking about Shelby.

* * *

All of the Cliffhangers, Peter and Sophie were in the lodge. The Cliffhangers were spread out sitting in the many different chairs and couches in the lodge. Sophie was sitting on the arms of one of the chairs but Peter was standing in front of the all the students. He kept on taking small steps back and forth, trying to figure out a good way to tell the students about Shelby, but her realized that there was no good way. 

Peter took a deep breath and said, "There's no easy way to say this so I'm going to just it. Shelby's awake." He saw everyone, besides Scott, Daisy and Sophie smile, but tried his best to ignore it. "Before anyone gets too happy, let me explain everything. Shelby's awake but she woke up with a severe case of amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Juliet questioned exasperated.

"Yeah. Memory loss, you half-wit" David retorted hotly.

"Lay off her man!" Auggie defended.

"Oh, I forgot. You always come to her defense."

"I'm warning you man."

"Will you two just shut up!" Scott stood up and screamed. "My God, how can you guys be so stupid right now? Shelby doesn't know who we are or even who she is and you two are arguing!"

Scott shook his head, stormed out of the lodge and ran down to the docks. He walked over to the bench him and Shelby use to always meet at during the night and kicked it. He glared back towards the lodge and was so angry at how immature Auggie and David were being.

* * *

Sophie stood up to go follow Scott but Peter grabbed her arm and shook his head. With that one look he said that she shouldn't go. Scott needed to be on his own right now and Peter knew it. As long as he didn't become a threat to himself or others, he would receive the space he wants. 

Peter turned back to the group and continued, "Now, Shelby's going to be coming back to Horizon today and I want you all to be understandable. But, don't baby her. She's still Shelby, attitude and all."

"Wait. She's coming back here? Is she aloud to? I mean, shouldn't she be going back home with her Mom?" Ezra asked.

"Her Mom knew, as I do, that Shelby would want to be here. Even Shelby said so herself, this her home." Peter replied.

"Take it from her best friend, Ezra, if Shelby was in her right state of mind, she would want to be here." Daisy said for Ezra still looked confused even after Peter had explained.

"Okay," Juliet spoke up. "When's she going to get here?"

"When I go get her," Peter replied and looked down at his watch. "Which is whenever I want to now."

"Well, when are you going to go get her?" Auggie asked.

"Now," Peter replied. "Sophie, can you stay here with everyone?"

"Yeah," Sophie replied.

"Why can't we come with?" Juliet asked.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea, Jules. We have to go slow with this." Peter said. "I'll be back with her in a little while."

Peter sighed. He walked out of the lodge and started to walk to the truck but stopped when his eyes caught sight of Scott. Scott was sitting down by the docks, on one of the benches and was just completely lost in thought. Peter shook his head and got into the truck. He started the car and started to drive to the hospital.

_Well_, Peter thought, _this is going to be interesting_.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

Secondly, I'm SO sorry that this update took so long to be added. I've just been very busy.

I was going to make this one and the next one the same chapter but this became so long and detailed that the next one has to be separate. I know I said that I would write the next _'The Truth Comes Out'_ chapter next but I might just write the next one of this. It all depends on the type of mood I'm in.

Please review whether it's good or bad. You guys keep me writing.


	7. Home

Peter, Alice and Jess walked into Shelby hospital room after they finished signing and filling all the proper papers so Shelby could leave the hospital and stay at Horizon rather than going back with her Mother.

Shelby was zipping up a sweat shirt around her body to cover up the white tank top she was wearing. She was wearing blue jeans, the white tank top, and a baby blue sweatshirt that was zipped half way. Once she was done zipping the sweat shirt, she looked over to Alice, Peter and Jess and sighed.

"Oh. You guys," She said, not sounding happy.

Peter kind of winced at the fact that she sounding so upset about them being there. He quickly recovered and put a fresh smile on his face.

"Don't sound so happy," Peter said, sarcastically.

"Well, why don't you be going to live with complete strangers while you don't even know who you are," Shelby retorted.

"Look, I understand this is going to be difficult for you, but, trust me, you'll be okay at Horizon."

"If you say so."

Peter sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. It would be just how Shelby was when she first came to Horizon; major attitude, hating authority, constantly talking back, and just being overall one who loved to rebel. He had to admit that he was happy she didn't remember her past, most notably the parts with Walt and being on the streets. That would be way too much for her to handle.

"So, when are we getting out of here?" Shelby asked.

"So, now you want to leave?" Peter asked.

"Well, yeah. I hate hospitals. I would much rather be at this Horizon place."

"We can leave whenever you're ready."

"Okay, I'm ready," Shelby said, without any hesitation.

"Okay, then say goodbye to your mom and sister. You're not going to be them for a while."

Shelby turned to Alice and Jess and walked over to them. She faked a half smile and said, "I think that if I had my memory, I would be upset about not seeing you two for a while but I really don't know what to say right now."

"Just say goodbye. We'll be seeing you again once you get your memory back," Jess said.

"You sound so confident that I will."

"Of course you will. If anyone can get over this, it's you."

"You know what? I think I like having you as a sister after all," Shelby said and smiled.

She pulled Jess into a hug and held her for a little while, but finally let go after a few moments. She turned to her Mom and got pulled into a hug by her. Once Alice finally let go, Shelby half smiled and said, "Bye."

Shelby left the hospital room with Peter and walked out to the car.

She stepped in the passenger side and looked around at the car. She saw the radio and smiled. Once Peter started the car, she turned on the radio and started to flip through the stations so she could find something to listen to. She stopped as she heard "Someday We'll Know" by The New Radicals come on. Peter looked over at her strangely.

"What?" Shelby asked.

"You know this song?" Peter asked back.

"I don't know. I like it though."

"Okay," Peter said and shook his head slightly.

They pulled up to Horizon and stepped out of the car.

Shelby looked around and all she could do was smile. She had a good feeling, a feeling like she was home. _Maybe this **is** where I would've wanted to be,_ Shelby thought to herself.

She looked past the campus and saw trees beyond trees. It was nothing like she's ever scene before. It was so beautiful. Different shades of green blended in with the blue of the sky. Shelby's blue eyes scanned the scenery and she was in awe. She couldn't get over how beautiful it was here.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath through her knows and smelled the fresh, crispness of being outside. She could feel the sunlight hitting her back and the smile on her face grew.

She opened her eyes and saw Peter watching her.

"I take it you like it here?" Peter asked with a smile.

"It's beautiful here," Shelby replied.

"I'm glad you like it."

Shelby nodded and started to walk away but stopped for she realized that she had so clue where she was going. She turned back to Peter slowly and saw a huge grin on his face. He knew why she had stopped so he walked over to her and started to lead her to the Cliffhanger girls dorm.

He opened the door for her to enter and walked her over to her bed. He showed her with compartment was hers and made sure she knew where everything was and how everything worked. Shelby wasn't liking how Peter was treating her like she was a complete idiot but she ignored it and listened regardless.

"Okay, now, the other Cliffhanger girls are in Math right now, but they'll be back in about half an hour," Peter said. "Then, I'll have all the Cliffhangers meet in the lodge and I'll assign you a first week buddy."

"A first week buddy?" Shelby questioned.

"Yeah. It's what we assign new people who come here to help them get use to being here and show them the way around," Peter explained.

"So I'm gonna be like a newbie here?"

"Basically."

"Great," Shelby said, with absolutely no enthusiasm. "So who's going to be my first week buddy?"

"I was going to go for Daisy since you already know her," Peter replied calmly. "Is that okay with you?"

"Well, actually, I would prefer not being treated like a 5-year-old but I guess I don't have a choice in it, do I?" Shelby retorted.

"I'm sorry, Shelby, but you don't know your way around here and it's very easy for new students to get lost or not remember all the rules."

"But, I'm not a new student," Shelby argued.

"True," Peter complied. "But, you don't remember any of the rules or the grounds so I think this would be best."

"Do we always have to do what you think is best?"

"Well, I am the one who runs with school, so, yeah, I'm the boss."

Shelby sighed and sat down on what Peter told her was her bed. She sighed in frustration and ran her hands through her long blonde hair. She hated being on the loosing side of an argument and right then, she clearly was.

"Okay," Peter said. "I'll leave you alone for a little while. You still have a little time before the Cliffhangers get back from class. I'll let them know that you're back before they meet you in the lodge though."

"Peter?" Shelby asked. "Where the hell do you get these names? Cliffhangers? I saw Ridge runners earlier. I saw trackers too."

"First off, I didn't make them up, they were around when I was a student here and I don't know where they came from. Secondly, don't say 'hell'. You'll learn that one of the rules here is no swearing."

"Technically, hell isn't a swear word."

"It is here." Peter said sternly. "I'll come back and get you when the rest of your group is out of class."

"Wonderful," Shelby replied sarcastically with a sigh.

She threw her back on to her bed and looked up at the plain white ceiling. _Why would I want to be here? _Shelby asked herself._ Is my home life really that terrible?_ It wasn't that Shelby hated Horizon or anything, she actually thought it was really beautiful and she did feel sort of at home there, but she still didn't understand why she was there. She knew that Horizon was a school for troubled teens so Shelby was left thinking about what her trouble was. What could've gotten a normal, 17 year old, girl into a school for troubled teens?

Shelby shook her head and decided not strain her mind thinking about it. She knew it would do no good. No matter how much she would try to remember things, she couldn't.

* * *

Shelby didn't realize how much time had passed while she lay there thinking, but before she knew it, Peter was knocking on the girls dorm door. Shelby sat up as a sigh left her lips. She didn't want to get up for she was comfortable but she stood up and opened the door regardless.

"Come on, the Cliffhangers are out of class which means you get to meet them in the lodge," Peter said.

"Oh. Yay, I get to meet the big bunch," Shelby said sarcastically.

"Shelby," Peter chided. "those people were like family to you."

"Yeah, 'were' being the operative word in that sentence. I don't remember them so forgive me if I'm not completely welcoming to my long lost family.

Shelby walked past Peter and towards the lodge. She barely knew where she was going but she knew she didn't want to argue with Peter anymore.

* * *

Peter stayed in the doorway for a moment in a sort of shock. He couldn't believe how Shelby was acting. He knew he would be dealing with her former attitude, but she went though such a transformation in the past year that he had forgotten just how back that attitude could be.

Peter half jogged to meet up with Shelby right before she walked into the lodge. He grabbed the handle to stop her from entering.

"Shelby, the people you're about to meet think you know who they are so you will have to forgive them if they assume things," Peter said.

"Wait. You didn't tell them?" Shelby asked,

"I did, but it still might not have sunk in to everyone yet. I only told them this morning before I came to pick you up."

"As long as they don't baby me like you are kind of doing, we'll be fine."

Shelby removed Peter's hand from the handle and walked into the lodge. She saw several people, that looked to be around her age, and one person that was obviously older sitting on a couch and some chairs near the fire place. Shelby walked over towards them with Peter behind her.

All the people looked at the pair and had sad smiles on their faces. Scott was the worst. He watched Shelby as she walked to a chair and sat down but then turned away, closed his eyes and let out a breath. He was refusing to allow tears to fall.

Shelby looked around to the other people and a soft, nervous chuckled left her mouth.

"Sorry, this is just really strange," Shelby said. "I know I'm suppose to know all of you, be friends with all of you and be enemies with at least one of you but I don't know who you guys are. So why doesn't someone tell me?"

Shelby wasn't in the mood to have a heart warming reunion with people she didn't really know. She wanted to get these introductions over and done with so she could leave.

Everyone looked sort of taken aback. None of them expected Shelby to be so strait forward and honest even though it was, after all, Shelby. They looked to each other and back to Shelby before Daisy decided to simplify things. She stood up and started to say who everyone was.

"This is Sophie, Juliet, Auggie, Ezra and David. And you already know me and Scott," Daisy said while pointing to the person who corresponded with the name.

Shelby and Daisy shared a smile. Shelby was already starting to like Daisy, she was a lot like her with wanting to just cut to the chase and get the introductions over with.

"Shelby!" Juliet squeaked.

Juliet jumped on Shelby and hugged her. Shelby was taken aback and almost fell out of the chair she was sitting in. Juliet was very happy to see her regardless of the fact that they were not exactly known to be the best of friends.

"Whoa!" Shelby said and kind of pushed Juliet off of her. "Relax."

"Sorry," Juliet said and chuckled.

Everyone, but Scott,sort of laughed at what Juliet had just done but the laughter soon subsided.

"Okay, Daisy, I was thinking you could be Shelby's first week buddy," Peter said.

"Wait," Daisy said. "You're giving her a first week buddy?"

"Yes, she doesn't know her way around and she is a lot like a new student right now so I'm going to treat her like one."

"Well," Shelby interjected. "I'm fine with that but stop treating me like I'm not here!"

"Sorry," Peter apologized. "Are you okay with Daisy being your first week buddy?"

"Yes," Shelby said.

"Okay, good. Well, that's it then. Shelby, you won't be expected to go to classes today but tomorrow I want you in class. You have all the same ones as Daisy so that won't be a problem."

"Oh, wonderful," Shelby replied sarcastically.

"Daisy, why don't you give Shelby the full tour?" Peter suggested.

"No problem," Daisy said with a slight nod. "Come on, Shel."

Shelby was looking at Scott as he stared into the fire so she didn't hear the suggestion Peter made or Daisy's words. Shelby was so interested in Scott that she couldn't bring herself not to look at him in that moment. He had so much pain and confusion in him that Shelby was actually worried about him even though she barely knew him.

"Shelby?" Daisy asked and snapped Shelby out of her thoughts on Scott.

"What?" Shelby asked.

"Come on, I'm suppose to give you the tour now."

"Oh. Right," Shelby said and stood up.

The two girls walked out of the lodge and started to walk around the grounds. Daisy showed Shelby random places and managed to cover all of the grounds rather quickly. Daisy stopped at the docks and sat down.

"And these are the docks. This is where you and Scott always went to talk," Daisy said.

"Right. Scott," Shelby said. "He seems a little out of it."

"He is. He misses you."

"But, I'm here."

"You are, yes, but, no offense, you're not the Shelby he loves," Daisy said gently.

"I'm started to understand that. It's, like, he tries to not even look at me," Shelby said.

"He does try to not look at you."

"Why though?"

"Because, seeing you is a constant reminder that the Shelby he loves isn't here."

Shelby sighed. She wasn't sure why, but she felt guilty about Scott being in so much pain. She knew it wasn't her fault for she couldn't control it but she still felt like it was her fault.

"It's not your fault, Shelby," Daisy said.

"I know," Shelby agreed. "It's just...I don't know. I can't help but think it is."  
"Why?"

"Because me being here is what's reminding him that the real me isn't here," Shelby said and looked confused. "Did that just make any sense?"

"Yes," Daisy nodded. "It made perfect sense to me."

"Well, do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, I do. But, you need to realize that it's not your fault."

"Do you think he's ever gonna talk to me?" Shelby asked.

"He will, it will just take some time," Daisy said.

That caused a smile to slip onto Shelby's face. She wasn't sure why she was so happy that Scott would talk to her eventually but she knew she was. He was very attractive and being talked to by someone that attractive was nice but it wasn't just that. Shelby just felt like there would be something missing in her if Scott constantly avoided her.

Shelby looked over at Daisy with that smile still on her face. She was happy that Daisy wasn't treating her any difference than anyone else. Everyone else seemed to think that Shelby needed to be babied and treated so delicately for she didn't remember who she was. She may not have known who she was but she still knew that she hated being treated like she was a porcelain doll.

"Thanks," Shelby said.

"For what?" Daisy questioned.

"For treating me normally instead of treating me like everyone else is."

"Oh, you mean like you're so delicate and need to be taken care of?" Daisy asked with a smirk.

"Exactly," Shelby said and nodded.

"Hey, what are friends for?"

Shelby chuckled.

"Come on, let's get back to the dorms. We'll have some time to do nothing before dinner," Daisy said and started walk.

"What's the food even like here?" Shelby asked as she started to walk back to the dorms with Daisy.

"You'll find out," Daisy replied and smirked.

"Damn. I can tell just by your facial expression that it's not good."

Daisy and Shelby laughed and continued to walk back to the girls dorm. They reached the door and walked through it finding the room to be empty. Both of them walked strait to their own beds and grabbed something to occupy themselves with; Daisy grabbed her tarot cards and started to shuffle them while Shelby grabbed a magazine and started to flip through the pages.

Shelby paused, looked up to Daisy and asked, "Hey, what's with that other girl?"

"Who? Juliet?" Daisy asked, still shuffling her cards.

"Yeah. She seems very," Shelby paused as if she was looking for the right words to use. "Perky."

"She is."

"Oh, great." Shelby said and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you two don't always get along."

"If she's always like she was in the lodge, then I'm not surprised."

"Sometimes she's actually even more enthusiastic," Daisy said.

"Oh, boy," Shelby said.

Both of the girls chuckled and went back to doing what they were doing.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake **and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

Secondly, I'm sorry that my updates have been taking so long. I've just been really busy. I know I promiced an update for this story last weekend but that was my homecoming so I was very busy. Still, better late than never, right?

As always, please review.


	8. Incomplete

Shelby woke up to the sound of Sophie's voice. Her eyes shot open as if she was waking up from a bad dream but she really wasn't, she was simply surprised at Sophie's voice. Shelby looked at the clock next to her bed and saw that it was only 7:00 a.m.

"What the hell," Shelby moaned in her bed.

"That's what the heck, Shelby," Sophie corrected.

"What?" Shelby asked, barely awake.

"No swearing."

Sophie left the girls dorm so they could get ready.

All of the girls, save for Shelby, go out of their beds and started to get ready. Shelby stayed in her bed and tried to go back to sleep. Her attempts of going back to sleep were destroyed by Juliet singing 'Part of Your World' from _The Little Mermaid._ Shelby's eyes opened and she looked to Juliet.

"Do you have to do that?" Shelby asked.

"Yes," Juliet replied shortly and went back to singing. "What would I give if I could live out of these waters? What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand? Bet ya on land, they understand. Bet they don't reprimand their daughters. Bright young women, sick of swimmin', ready to stand."

Shelby did her best to ignore Juliet but it was impossible. She finally got out of bed when she realized that trying to go back to sleep was futile. Shelby walked into the bathroom and looked into her reflection. She was finally starting to get use to it but she was still always a little surprised for she still didn't remember who she was.

After all the girls finished getting ready, they decided to go down to the kitchen for food. The food wasn't the most desirable food but it was better than nothing so they had very minimal complaining. Juliet finally stopped singing 'Part of Your World' which Shelby was grateful for but her thank you quickly disappeared when Juliet started singing 'Kiss the Girl'. _Great, she went from singing one _The Little Mermaid_ song to singing another,_ Shelby thought.

* * *

All the girls walked into the cafeteria and, surprisingly, made it there before the boys did. They got their food and sat down at the table and started to eat. It's been three days since Shelby's been back so she was use to this routine by then. The girls were silent until their heads shot up when they heard the boys walk in and then they started to talk when the boys sat down.

Since everyone sat in their normal seats, Scott sat next to Shelby but he was still silent. It wasn't that Scott didn't like Shelby or wasn't happy that she was awake or anything like that but he missed _his_ Shelby. He missed the Shelby who loved him as much as he loved her and the Shelby who knew exactly what to do to make him go absolutely crazy.

Shelby was still feeling guilty about how Scott was acting. She knew that she had no control over Scott's emotions but she also knew that if she had woken up with her memory that Scott would be happy, not upset and not missing his girlfriend. Shelby looked at Scott carefully but once he went to look at her and she saw it, she turned away quickly.

Everyone else talked through out breakfast but Scott and Shelby both stayed silent as they thought about each other. Scott simply missed his Shelby and felt like he needed her there or he wouldn't be complete and Shelby felt very similar. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like there was something missing in her with Scott ignoring her.

Breakfast finished quickly and Peter announced that it was time for group. Shelby's been having to participate in it for a couple of days but she still wasn't completely use to it. She didn't understand how having to tell complete strangers her problems would help her especially because she didn't remember the problems she had that landed her at Horizon in the first place.

Everyone walked into the lodge and sat down in the chairs arranged for them.

Peter looked around slowly and said, "Okay, simple group this morning. 'I feel' and you have to explain why you feel that way. Juliet why don't you start us off."

Juliet nodded, smiled and said, "I feel good. I've had a good morning and I got an A on my Math test yesterday so I'm just happy. Auggie?"

"I feel good. Nothing's going on with me really," Auggie said. "E.Z.?"

"I'm fine, I guess. A little tired, but still fine. I got a good phone call from my Dad last night so I'm fine," He said. "David?"

"I'm tired and I want this over with," David said.

"David," Peter warned, clearly saying that what he said was not an appropriate answer.

"Fine. I'm tired because I didn't sleep all that good last night due to a letter from the General," David said addressing his Father as 'the General'. "Daisy?"

"I'm fine," Daisy said. "I'm actually happy because when I read my cards this morning, they predicted something great. Shelby?"

"I feel incomplete," Shelby said as she looked at Scott. "I'm not sure why I feel this way but I feel like I lost part of me and I don't mean my memory. I feel like I need someone to talk to me and they won't. Scott?"

"I feel..." Scott drifted off as he looked at Shelby. "I don't know what I feel right now."

"Just tell us something, Scott," Peter said.

"I'm confused," Scott answered and took a deep breath. "I'm confused because I don't know why I feel like I should be missing someone when they're right in front of me."

Scott was looking at Shelby when he answered. He felt like he was still missing Shelby even though she was right in front of him and has been for days. He knew it wasn't fully his Shelby for she didn't have the memories with him but it was still Shelby. The beautiful blonde sitting in the chair next to him was still the woman he loved and he couldn't understand why he felt like she wasn't.

Slowly, and it seemed reluctantly, they looked away from each other. Everyone was looking at them but Scott gave a look that clearly said for them to stop and they did for no one wanted to anger him. Scott and Shelby would glance back at each other every few moments but then would look away just as quickly.

"Okay, you guys are dismissed," Peter said as he was watching Scott and Shelby.

Everyone was relieved to be released from group but Scott and Shelby seemed to be the most relieved. It was getting very strange for them to be around each other.

They both wanted to be with each other but Shelby couldn't comprehend why her body or mind wanted Scott so bad. Shelby knew that her and Scott were together but if she couldn't remember him, then how come she still wanted to be with him? Shelby watched Scott as he walked out of the lodge and a sigh left her lips.

"That was strange," Daisy said and moved over by Shelby.

"I don't know what's going on," Shelby said and shook her head. "I feel like I want to be with him but I don't know why. I don't even know him."

"Yes, you do. You just don't remember that you know him."

"Still. I don't know anything about him. If I was in the right state of mind, I'm sure me and him would be all over each other, I can tell."

"That's very true. You two use to get in trouble all the time for your public displays of affection."

"I can just tell by how my body reacts when he's near that me and him are meant to be together," Shelby said and smiled. "I just wish me not having a memory wouldn't be so weird for him."

"Well, maybe you should talk to him and let him know that you feel like that," Daisy said.

"Oh, yeah, 'cause that would be an easy conversation," Shelby replied sarcastically.

"It wouldn't be easy but it's necessary. He deserves to know that even though you don't have your memory that you still want to be with him."

"I don't know if that's what I want though. I just know that him ignoring me and not being there hurts me."

"You have to talk to him, Shelby," Daisy said. "That's the only thing that's going to help."

Daisy patted Shelby on the thigh and walked away. She left the lodge silently which left Shelby to think more about what she was going to do about Scott. She knew that Daisy was right and that she had to talk to Scott but she had no idea where to begin with such a complex issue. Another sigh left Shelby's lips as she thought more about it.

* * *

Scott walked down to the docks and went strait to the bench where him and Shelby use to meet all the time. He sat down and ran his hands through his hair.

Group got him thinking about the whole situation with Shelby and why he was ignoring her. He didn't even really know why he was but he figured it was because he knew, deep down, that the Shelby who was there, wasn't the real Shelby; he figured that she couldn't be the real Shelby is she couldn't remember who the real Shelby was.

Scott leaned back and sighed. He wanted to be with Shelby and he missed her so much. He felt kind of cruel for being so cold to Shelby for he knew that she didn't deserve it for it wasn't her fault that she didn't have a memory; she had no choice in the matter. After what Shelby had said in group, Scott started thinking even more than usual about the situation. He couldn't stop himself from wondering what she meant by feeling incomplete.

"Hey," Peter said as he walked up next to Scott.

"Hey," Scott replied and looked up at Peter.

"How are you holding in there, Scott?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean?"

"This situation with Shelby has been hard on all of us but I can imagine that it's been the worst with you."

"It is hard. I know that she's Shelby and I know that none of this is her fault but I just feel weird acting natural around her."

"That's understandable. But, by what both of said in group today, it's pretty obvious that you two still want to be with each other."

"Of course I want to be with Shelby, but I want to be with the real Shelby."

"She is the real Shelby, Scott," Peter said. "Just because she doesn't remember who she is, doesn't mean she's less of who she was before."

Peter's words made Scott think about that. He was right in the way of saying that Shelby wasn't any less herself just because she doesn't have her memory but it was still so strange for Scott to just act like nothing's wrong.

"I guess you're right," Scott said and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. "But I can't just act like nothing happened and go back to how things use to be."

"Then don't," Peter said. "Don't try being how you two were before the accident."

"Then what should I do?"

"Go slow. Not ignoring her would be a nice start."

"Yeah, I've been a little cruel with that," Scott agreed and felt even worse about doing that now.

"Try talking to her, Scott. She's not any different than how she was before the amnesia," Peter said.

Peter patted Scott on the back as he nodded and walked away. Peter gave Scott as much advice as he could and now it was up to Scott to figure out what he was going to do with the advice.

Scott leaned back into the bench again as another sigh left his lips. He, obviously, wanted to talk to Shelby but he thought it would be too strange for both of them. Just a couple of weeks ago, they couldn't keep there hands off each other and they were madly in love but then the accident happened and now Shelby doesn't even know who she is. Having something like that happen is bound to cause some troubles in a relationship.

Scott stood up from the bench and started to walk to class. Before he even fully left the docks, he looked back and thought of how him and Shelby use to always sneak out and meet there. The thought caused a smile to pass onto Scott's face and for him to momentarily close his eyes. When his eyes opened, it was as if he could see him and Shelby sitting on a bench in each other's arms laughing or kissing or just merely enjoying each others presence. He closed his eyes again and when he opened them again, the sight was gone.

The smile left Scott's face and his eyes glazed over with unshed tears. He missed Shelby too much for his own good. And it wasn't just Shelby that he missed, but how he felt and how he was when Shelby was with him; he was always so happy when she was there and she never had to do anything special, she just had to be there. Scott rubbed his eyes before the tears had a chance to fall and turned away from the docks to walk to class.

* * *

While Scott was sitting in Chemistry, all he could do was watch Shelby. Shelby was taking the notes that Jeff was writing on the board and Scott couldn't help but look at her. Shelby took her free hand and started to play with her hair. She twirled a strand of her blonde hair around one of her fingers and Scott smiled at the simple motion. It was things like that that made Scott go crazy at the mere sight of Shelby.

Scott looked down briefly and then back up at Shelby. She continued to play with her hair and Scott came to the conclusion that he was going to listen to Peter's advice and talk to her. He couldn't stand not being with her. Scott thought that it was pretty pathetic that it took so long for him to realize it but he figured it was better late than never.

The bell rang and everyone stood up from their seats. Shelby was out of the door quickly and Scott had to rush in order to catch up to her.

"Shelby!" Scott said while trying to catch up to Shelby.

Shelby heard Scott call her name and she paused. She recognized that it was Scott and was very surprised that he of all people was calling for her. After all, he had been ignoring her since she came home from the hospital. She turned around and waited for him to catch up.

"Yes?" Shelby asked once Scott was close enough for him to hear.

"Do you think we could meet up tonight at, like, 11:00?" Scott asked with them now standing face-to-face.

"Isn't that breaking the rules?" Shelby asked with a smile.

"We always use to break the rules," Scott told her. "So, will you meet me by the docks at 11:00."

Shelby thought seriously about it. If it was something that she always did than Peter shouldn't be surprised if he caught her doing it but it was still breaking the rules. Shelby always had a little thing for breaking rules and she thought that rules were made to be broken. With, or without a memory, that was something that wasn't going to change with her.

Normally, she would've said 'yes' in a heartbeat but she also thought Scott deserved a little bit of suffering for he made her suffer for days by ignoring her. She was going to say 'no' to make Scott suffer.

"Please," Scott pleaded.

Shelby looked up at Scott and saw in his beautiful, blue eyes how much he truly wanted to meet with her that night and that made Shelby completely forget about saying 'no'.

"Okay," Shelby agreed.

The two teenagers smiled to each other and then went their separate ways. Neither of them really knew what to expect from their meeting but they both knew that they had to talk to each other. They missed each other too damn much. Shelby may not have a memory but she knew that she wanted to be with Scott regardless.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever**and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

This chapter is pretty short(well, compared to my other updates lately) but I wanted this one and the next one to separate. I hope everyone enjoys it anyhow. I think I like it, it wasn'tvery difficult to write either. But, it's really all up to you guys so please review.

Also, I have this on my main page too but I'll post it here as well. There's this new Higher Ground Role Playing Game that I'm a part of and we're trying to get more people to join. We don't have a lot of the cannon characters taken, we have a Shelby(me) a Scott, A Peter, Juliet, Sophie and an Alice and I think that's it. We have a lot of made ups and we welcome them. If you're interested, the link is on my main page.


	9. Together Again

Scott walked up to the docks and sat down on one of the many benches. He couldn't really sit still. His knees were bouncing and he was trying to find something for his hands to do while he sat there. He was nervous about this little get-together with Shelby. It wasn't that he thought they would get caught for they had successfully snuck out countless times before but he didn't know what to expect from the talk with Shelby. He didn't even know what he was going to say.

Finally, after a few moments, Scott gave up on trying to sit still. He stood up and started to pace back and forth on the docks as he continued to wait for Shelby.

* * *

Shelby looked at the clock and saw that it was time for her to leave. She grabbed her black, zip-up sweat shirt and put it on, zippering it up a little more than half way. She walked to the door and opened it, looking out into the night and was about to leave when she stopped dead in her tracks.

Shelby quickly realized that she had no idea how to get to the docks from the girls dorm and she did not want to get lost. She closed the door and turned around, walking over to Daisy, who was only half awake.

"Daisy," She whispered to her as she crouched down onto the floor next to Daisy's bed.

"What?" Daisy asked as her eyes drifted open.

"How do I get to the docks?"

"So, you're actually going to meet him?" Daisy asked, suddenly, fully awake.

"Yeah. So how do I get there?" Shelby asked again.

"Okay," Daisy started and sat up in her bed. "When you walk out the door, you walk right until you hit the equipment shed and once you're there, you take another right and if you keep walking, it should lead you strait to the docks."

"Thanks," Shelby said with a smile and stood up.

Shelby, once again, turned to leave and once again she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked back to Daisy again.

"What the hell am I gonna say to him?" Shelby asked in a worried and frantic tone.

"I have no clue. That whole talk is entirely between you and him," Daisy said and then put a fake smile on her face. "Have fun."

Shelby gave Daisy a look that in between a smile and glare. Daisy smirked at her in response which caused Shelby to roll her eyes slightly before turning to leave, yet again. Only, that time, she actually made it out the door.

Shelby went the way Daisy told her to go. She took a left once she was out of the cabin and walked until she saw the equipment shed. Once she saw the equipment shed she stopped and looked both ways before she turned right. She kept walked until she saw the lights at the docks and sighed.

Shelby continued to walk and she tried to think of something to say to Scott but she came up with nothing. There was nothing she could say to Scott that would change their situation. She just knew that she didn't want to have him continue to be distant around her. She wanted him to talk to her and since he's the one who arranged the meeting, she assumed he was going to.

Shelby walked up to the docks and Scott immediately stopped his pacing and turned to her. Scott watched her carefully as he was still trying to think of what he was going to say.

"Sorry I'm late," Shelby said. "I feel so stupid, I had to ask Daisy how to get here."

Scott gave a small smile at her comment and said, "It's okay. I'm just glad that you decided to come."

"I told you I would," She said.

"Yeah, I know but you've stood me up before."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

There was a quiet, strange moment between them where neither of them said anything or even really looked at each other. Shelby was looking down, at her feat while Scott was looking down, into the water. It was as if they were strangers and, in a way, they were. Scott was a complete stranger to Shelby.

"Okay, so you're the one who wanted to see me," Shelby said after she finally got fed up with the silence between the two. "Why?"

Scott looked at Shelby and then looked back to the water. A sigh left his lips as he looked away from the water again. He sat down on one of the benches and took another glance at Shelby.

"I wanted to talk to you," Scott said and wanted to say more but didn't know where to begin.

"About?" Shelby asked.

Shelby walked over onto the docks and took a seat next to Scott on the bench. He inched away slowly, so slowly that if Shelby wasn't watching him, she wouldn't have noticed. But she was watching him and she could tell that he was uncomfortable with her sitting next to him but she didn't understand why.

"Why are you so weird around me?" Shelby asked in an almost frustrated tone. "I may not have my memory but I'm still the same person I was before."

"I know that," Scott replied quickly and looked at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just stop being weird around me," Shelby retorted.

"Don't you think I want?"

"Well, if you do, you have a messed up way of showing it."

"I'm sorry about that, too."

"Stop apologizing for things Scott!" Shelby said, still frustrated.

"I should be apologizing though. I've been completely blocking you out and I don't want to be doing it. I care about you too much," Scott said in a tone that showed how lost he was feeling.

"Well, you have a hell of a way of showing it.

Scott scoffed and stood up. He paced back and forth in front of Shelby and then came to an abrupt stop and looked at her.

"It's just…" Scott started but stopped for he didn't know how to explain what he was feeling.

Scott started pacing again, trying to figure out how to put his feelings into words. He wanted to tell Shelby that he still loved her and that he missed her. He wanted to try and explain that the reason he was ignoring her was because it hurt him to see her, knowing that she didn't remember him. It hurt him to know that there was nothing he could do to help her.

Scott said back down next to Shelby and looked to her. She gave him a look that clearly said she was waiting for him to talk and to, hopefully, answer some of the unsaid questions he knew she was thinking about.

"Being around you is a constant reminder that the real Shelby isn't here," Scott started but was stopped by Shelby.

"Scott," Shelby said but Scott raised his hand to stop her.

"Let me try to get this out first. Please?" Scott questioned and Shelby nodded. "I know that you're the real Shelby, deep down, but that fact that you don't remember me hurts me a little. We have a lot of memories together and there are a lot of things about me that I only told you. And I miss being with the girl who knows everything about me and who's always been there for me."

Scott let out a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to think of how to explain things better or at least more so that she would understand.

"I know that you're still the same amazing girl that I fell in love with but it's still strange for me," Scott said. "You don't remember anything we've been through together. You don't remember when I first told you that I loved you. You don't remember the first night we were together. You don't remember that you even loved me back."

Scott looked back to Shelby and saw that she was watching him with careful eyes. He looked into her blue eyes and saw the Shelby he always knew and loved. His heart kept telling him that the girl sitting next to him right then was Shelby but his mind kept telling him different.

"I don't know about that last one," Shelby said softly and looked down at her hands. "I don't know what it is about you but you ignoring me hurt. And I'm not even sure why. You're right, I don't remember you or anything that you talked about but I know that I love you. Even if I can't remember how that came about, I know that I do."

Shelby looked back to Scott and saw him watching her how she was watching him while he was the one speaking. She didn't know what to say or what to do but she knew that she didn't want to loose him. She felt connected to him in a way and didn't want that connection to be broken again.

Scott let a smile sneak onto his face. He didn't try and fight it or anything else he was feeling. His mind kept telling him, 'she's not the real Shelby' but at that point, he wasn't listening to his mind anymore; he was listening to his heart. After all, love was ruled by the heart, not the mind and love was exactly what he felt for Shelby, with or without a memory.

Scott wanted to act on how he felt but he wasn't sure how. He looked at her lips and wanted so badly to kiss her but he wasn't sure how she would act. She didn't know him so it would be almost like kissing a stranger. However, if what Shelby said was how she really felt, then she would welcome the kiss.

Scott decided to take a leap of faith and leaned into Shelby for a kiss. They both closed their eyes and gave themselves completely to the kiss, simply enjoying the feeling of touching each other and being with each other. Shelby wrapped her arms around Scott's neck and he wrapped one of his around her waist. They were at a strange angle so it limited their moving ability but they enjoyed it none-the-less.

After the kiss lasted for several long, sweet moments, they both gently and almost reluctantly pulled away from each other's mouths. They both opened their eyes and looked at each other with nothing showing in their eyes but love. A smile danced on both of their faces and neither of them shoved it away.

"If you always kiss like that, I think that might be one of the things that helped me fall in love with you," Shelby breathed with a grin.

Scott chuckled at Shelby's comment and pulled away a little bit more. She let go of him but Scott kept his one arm around her waist, not wanting to let her go. He already lost her once and didn't want to loose her again. Ever.

Scott kept his eyes on Shelby. She was looking into the water but after a few moments, she turned back to him and saw him watching her. She looked down quickly with a smile. Shelby looked back up at him and saw a smile on his face and couldn't help but being a little bit confused.

"What?" Shelby asked.

"Nothing," He replied but still didn't look away.

"Then why are you looking at me?" She asked with a smile.

"Is it wrong to want to look at you?" Scott asked with a hint of teasing in his voice. "After all, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

Shelby couldn't stop herself from blushing at his words despite how corny they were. She looked down again and smiled. She tried to get the reddening of her cheeks under control but was loosing the battle.

"Don't blush," Scott said gently. "You can't blush at the truth."

"Bull shit," Shelby replied, still trying to not blush. "And do you have any idea how corny that sounded?"

"Yeah, but it worked."

"What do you mean?" Shelby asked and looked at him.

"I wanted to know if I could still make you blush by calling you beautiful," Scott said with a smile.

"Well, it worked. Congratulations."

Scott smiled down to Shelby and pulled her into a sort of half hug which she welcomed. She wrapped one of her arms around him and hugged him back. She couldn't help but feeling content in Scott's arms. She was so relaxed and it simply felt so right for her to be in Scott's arms.

"Were we always like this?" Shelby asked softly. "I mean, before the accident."

"Yeah," Scott replied softly with a gentle nod.

"That's good"

Shelby gave herself completely to being relaxed. She let herself be comforted and be happy in Scott's arms without protest. Scott was simply enjoying feeling Shelby in his arms. After over a week of her being in a coma and then he was avoiding her for over another week or so. Almost three weeks of not being with her was too long for him.

They stayed in each other's arms for several minutes. Neither of them moved. Neither of them talked. It was almost as if time stopped and it was just them, in each others arms. Everything was so still and so content. Shelby was so relaxed in Scott's arms and Scott was so happy with Shelby in his arms.

Shelby had no trouble falling asleep in Scott's arms. She didn't know that when she gave herself completely to the relaxation Scott was provided that she fell asleep. Scott had no trouble sleeping either. He was in an awkward position but he didn't care in the least. He was too happy to let that bother him. They slept in each others arms, neither of them noticing the other was asleep for they, too, were asleep.

* * *

It was hours later, when false dawn was first appearing, that Scott gently touched Shelby's cheek and she was startled awake. Scott didn't know what woke him but he was happy it did. He knew that they could both get into trouble for being out together. He didn't want to wake Shelby but knew that he had to or they would be caught.

"What?" Shelby asked, voice still groggy from sleep.

"We have to go," Scott whispered gently.

Shelby looked around and noticed how late, or rather early, it was and knew that Scott was correct. They did have to go. Shelby wasn't there long and still was unclear on some of the rules but she did know that if they got caught, they were in trouble. However, she didn't want to move. She was so comfortable and content in Scott's arms that she didn't want to move for she was afraid that she would never feel like that again.

"No," Shelby stated, as she snuggled even more into Scott.

Scott smiled and looked down at Shelby. He didn't want to move either but he, like Shelby, knew they had to.

"Come on," Scott said gently. "If we don't go, we'll get in trouble."

"I don't care," She responded with a smile.

"I do. If we get caught, we'll be lucky if we get to see each other at all in the next few weeks. We'll get put on shuns. Another two weeks of not talking to you is too long."

Shelby thought about that for a second and then turned to Scott and said, "I agree. Let's go."

Shelby stood up from the bench and put her hand out to Scott. He took it and stood up. They turned and walked back towards the dorms. They didn't bother trying to be careful for they knew that Peter still wasn't there. Even he didn't come to Horizon that early.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached the dorms. They stood in between the two buildings, equal space between each one, still holding each others hand and not wanting to let go.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours," Scott said.

"Okay," Shelby said but didn't look any happier about them being parted.

Scott leaned down and kissed Shelby quickly on the lips. He turned away from her and reluctantly walked into the boy's dorm. He didn't want to be parted from Shelby but the idea that it was only a few hours before they were reunited was enough to last him until breakfast.

* * *

Shelby walked into the girl's dorm with a huge smile on her face. She was as quiet as she could be for she didn't want to wake the other girls. Shelby as being as quiet as humanly possible but somehow, Daisy still woke up.

"How go?" Daisy asked with her words bleeding together so much from still being half asleep that it sounded like baby talk.

Shelby didn't say anything. She thought about saying 'good' but she didn't. She simply looked at Daisy with a smile. If Daisy had been fully awake, she would have known that it was a good sign but she was too tired to comprehend fully so she just shook her head and turned over, going back to sleep.

Shelby yawned and knew that she was still incredibly tired. She looked at the time and saw that she still had at least an hour and a half still to sleep. She took that opportunity gladly. Shelby kicked off her shoes, fell onto her bed and within a matter of moments, she was sleeping again.

* * *

A couple hours after Shelby had fallen asleep again, Sophie's voice rang through the air, waking up the girls. Shelby woke up with the rest of the girls but was more tired than the others for she had been up and extra hour while she was with Scott.

The girls got out of bed and all got ready, like they normally did. It was too long before they were walking out the door and heading towards the kitchen for breakfast. The girls walked into the kitchen and got in line to get their food. For once, they were earlier than the boys.

Only moments after, the boys walked into the kitchen.

"You gotta tell me what happened, man," Auggie said to Scott. "You haven't stopped smiling since you woke up."

"Something good," Scott stated and caught eye of Shelby with a smile. "Something very good."

The boys walked over by the girls to join them in line. Scott went strait to Shelby and looked around quickly before giving her a small kiss on the lips. She returned the kiss quickly with a smile.

Scott and Shelby looked away from each other after almost a minute of gazing at each other and saw all the other Cliffhangers looking at them with shocked and confused expressions.

"What?" Shelby asked innocently, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Scott and Shelby laughed as if they were laughing at someone joke that no one else understood. And, in a way, they were. They were laughing at the fact that they were back together. They were together again, just like before.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce **and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

Okay, I like most of this chapter. I don't think I captured the falling asleep part well but it was the best I could do. I re-wrote that a couple of times and this is the closest I came to being satisfied with it. As always, it all up to you guys though so let me know what you thought of it. Please review!


	10. A Haunting Past

Shelby woke up with a small smile on her face. She had woken up like that ever since her and Scott made up. She didn't know why, but she liked that they were together. She didn't feel whole without him in her life and she was happy that things were as close to normal as they could be considering everything. She had her boyfriend back, her friends back, even some old rivalries back but there was still one thing missing from her life. One, very important thing.

Shelby still didn't know why she had been sent to Horizon and it had been nagging at her, in the back of her mind, for the last few days. Shelby wasn't stupid. She knew that people were sent to Horizon because they had problems. Everyone had their own story there. And she couldn't help but wondering what her story was. Not having a memory was really starting to bother her. She wanted to know about herself and she simply didn't.

"It's about time you got up," Juliet commented as she walked out of the bathroom.

Shelby was taken out of her thoughts by Juliet's words and she cast something close to a glare in Juliet's direction. Shelby and Juliet haven't exactly been on the best of terms. They fought over the stupidest things and Shelby thought Juliet was too childish and self centered.

"Whatever," Shelby dismissed and got out of her bed.

* * *

The group of girls walked into the kitchen to get their food and were instantly greeted by the guys. Shelby didn't mind, nor did any of the other Cliffhanger girls; they welcomed the boys with open arms. Shelby still couldn't change that lingering question from her mind; why was she sent to Horizon?

The group got their food and sat down at the table. Everyone made small talk and complained about the food but Shelby stayed pretty much quiet through out the meal. She looked around the table and stopped on everyone for a minute_. Auggie, gang issues. Juliet, cutter. Daisy, alcoholic parents. Ezra, drugs. David, anger problems. Scott, drugs,_ Shelby thought as she noted everything she knew about the other students and what got them sent to Horizon. After circling the table, Shelby stopped on herself and didn't have an answer. A sigh of frustration left her lips and she leaned back in her chair.

"What wrong?" Scott asked, noting the fact that Shelby seemed upset about something or other.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking," Shelby answered honestly. She looked at Scott and saw him giving her worried eyes. "It's not important. Don't worry."

Shelby was more-or-less lying to Scott with the second thing but that was the first thing she thought of. She didn't want to bring up her mental problems with him. She had just gotten him back and she didn't want her own problems to lead him away again. Besides, she didn't even know if he knew why she was sent there. She didn't know if anyone knew.

"If you say so," Scott said with a shrug and dismissed it.

If Shelby didn't want to talk about whatever was going through her head, he wasn't going to push. But he also wasn't going to try and hide the fact that he was worried about her. He knew she was lying when she said it was nothing important but he wasn't going to press the matter. If and when Shelby was ready to talk to him about it, he would be there for her. Still, he didn't know how long it would be before his patience grew very thin. He was hoping she would open up to him before that happened.

Peter walked up to the Cliffhanger table to announce that group had been cancelled for that day. No one questioned it or cared about the reason, they were all just grateful for it. No one liked group.

"Hey, um, Peter, can I talk to you soon?" Shelby asked in a careful tone.

"Yeah. If you want we can now. You still have about half an hour before class," Peter answered. "What about kiddo?"

Shelby just shook her head, which let Peter know that she didn't want the whole table to know what about. Peter nodded in understanding and looked around at the other students.

"Well, come on, we'll go to my office," Peter said.

Shelby stood up and complied with Peter's offer. She was happy he wasn't being apprehensive about talking but she thought he might be once he found out what she wanted to know. She didn't think he would want her to really know. After all, they were all there for bad things that happened to them and Shelby seemed to have one of the worst stories. At least, she thought she did since no one would tell her about it when she had asked.

* * *

Peter and Shelby walked into Peter's office and Shelby sat down on the couch while Peter leaned onto his desk. He was watching her very carefully, as if trying to figure out her next move but he should have known that he couldn't do that. No one could do that with Shelby.

Shelby looked down at her hands before she looked up to Peter and saw him watching her. She looked back down and tried to think of how to ask her question. She didn't know how to approach it.

"Why am I here?" Shelby asked softly and looked back at Peter.

"What do you mean?" He asked calmly.

"I mean, why was I sent to Horizon? We were all sent here for our own reasons and our own problems. What's mine?"

"Shelby, do you really want to know about your past?" Peter asked calmly.

"I think I should know," Shelby replied with a nod.

"I don't know if you're ready for that information, Shel."

"Peter, let's be honest, we don't know if I'll ever get my memory back. And if I don't get it back, I want to know why I was sent to a school for social rejects. And If I do get it back, I still want to know for now," Shelby said a little bit more forcefully.

Peter looked at Shelby carefully. He wanted to argue with her but, whether he liked it or not, he knew she was right. She had the right to know why she was sent to Horizon. He didn't like her 'social rejects' comment but he couldn't deny that it was a school for 'special' people, people with problems in their lives. She had the right to know what her own problems were.

Peter sighed deeply and got off his desk. He walked behind it and went to one of the filing cabinets he had in his room. He opened one of the drawers and found Shelby's file. He didn't like the idea of showing her the file but it was easier for him than telling her everything.

"This is your file. It's been updated every time you told me something or we learned something new about you. The last thing put in was your accident," Peter said and walked over to Shelby, handing her the file. "Read it if you want to know why you're here."

Peter left Shelby alone at that. He walked out of his office and let Shelby read her file in privacy. He didn't really want to be there when she found out everything about her anyway. It was too hard to him to handle. He didn't know how she would handle it but he knew she would want to be alone.

* * *

Shelby looked down at the file folder in her hands. She was almost scared to open it and start reading her file. It was strange, she pushed and pushed for her to be able to read her file and she was scared to read it. She wanted to know why she was sent to Horizon but she afraid that the reasons might be too much for her to handle.

After several moments of hesitation, Shelby opened the file folder and saw her picture in the top, right corner. She took a deep breath before she started to read the file. She skimmed through some of the stuff like age, name, sex, family, and other stuff she already knew until she reached where it started talking about why was originally sent there. She read that she was a chronic runaway and shrugged her shoulder. Running away from home wasn't that bad.

Shelby flipped the page and saw notes that Peter had took over the time Shelby had been at Horizon. It was there that she found stuff that she wasn't liking it. She ignored most of the notes but a few of them caught her eye.

"_Shelby's reason for running away was that her step-father, Walt, was sexually abusing her. I'm going call C.P.S. and have them meet with Shelby._"

Shelby gasped as she read that and she shook her head. She didn't think she wanted to read anymore but she knew that she should. She was just hoping that the sexually abusive step-father was the worst. But she saw that it wasn't when she read Peter's next note.

"_Shelby admitted to me that while she was living on the streets, she sold herself as a prostitute in order to survive._"

Shelby closed her eyes and when she opened them, she scanned her body quickly. She didn't want to believe what she had just read. The idea was repulsive to her and she couldn't believe that she would really put herself through that kind of hell. Selling herself for money? Shelby shook her head fiercely as a tear fell down her cheek. She didn't mean to start crying but she couldn't stop it.

Shelby wiped the tear away quickly and continued to read.

"_Shelby's step-father had a heart attack and by her Mother's wishes, Shelby is being sent home to help take care of him._"

Shelby didn't like that. She never even met her step-father but she could tell by what she was reading that she wasn't happy when she had to go home. She could only imagine that she hated it. She wanted to stop reading again but she couldn't fully bring herself to. She wanted to know everything.

"_Shelby returned to Horizon and that night she talked to me about what happened at home. It turns out that Shelby only let Walt keep up what he was doing because he promised not to go after her little sister if he did. When Shelby found out that he had been sexually abusing Jess as well, she called the cops on him. She was then brought back to Horizon._"

Shelby almost wanted to smile at reading that. She was proud of herself for calling the cops on him but the caption was still too sad for her to smile. She couldn't imagine the little girl she had seen at the hospital having to endure that. She felt too bad for Jess to have been fully proud of herself at that moment. She was only happy with herself but she protected Jess when she called the cops.

"_There has been an on-going relationship between Shelby and one of her fellow Cliffhangers, Scott Barringer. It seems innocent enough so I will allow it. Plus, they both seem to be benefiting from the relationship._"

Shelby finally smiled when she read that caption. The 'innocent enough' comment is what brought on the smile. Shelby wasn't an expert on her relationship with Scott but she knew that it was far from 'innocent'.

Shelby read the last few notes Peter had but it was everything she already knew. They were talking about the accident, her being in a coma and the last entry was that she woke up without a memory. She kind of sobered up as she read the last few notes because she didn't like the reality of them. Hell, she didn't really like anything she read in her file but she asked to read it so she dealt with having that knowledge.

Shelby closed the file folder and sat it down next to her on the couch. She leaned her elbows on her knees as a deep sigh left her lips. She had a tough life and she knew it. Shelby understood why everyone was making snide remarks about her acting like a bitch when she first arrived at Horizon. Shelby understood being a bitch. She was probably just trying to cover up what she really felt.

Shelby knew she didn't want to admit everything she had done. And truth be told, now that Shelby had the information again, she was probably going to act the same way she did before everyone found out. Shelby, whether she would ever admit it or not, was ashamed of what she had done.

Shelby looked around Peter's office and remembered that she was still alone. She could easily let everything she was feeling out and break down without anyone there to see it. Memory or no memory, Shelby didn't like showing that she was weak in front of people. She didn't like crying in front of people, especially when it over things she had done to herself. Shelby took a breath and forced herself to get in control of her emotions that were dying to leak out.

"You can come in now, Peter," Shelby yelled to the direction of the door.

Peter walked hesitantly back into the room when he heard Shelby's voice. He wasn't sure she invited him back in for herself or for him so he tried to prepare himself for any and everything. He was going to have to be there for her in every way possible from there on and he knew it. Peter just wasn't sure if she would let him.

Shelby looked up at Peter when he walked back in and she watched him carefully. She was simply waiting for him to ask her questions like, 'are you okay?' and to say things like, 'I know this is shocking'. But Shelby didn't want to be bothered with any of those questions or any of those comments. She just wanted to give her file back to Peter and leave.

"Here," Shelby said and handed the file to Peter.

Shelby turned on her heels and walked to the door but stopped just short of it. She looked back to Peter and thought she should say something. After all, he didn't have to give her the file to read, he didn't have to do anything he had been doing lately.

"Thanks," She said softly and left.

* * *

Shelby left the administration offices and went strait to the gazebo. She wanted to clear her mind and that was the first place that came to her mind. She sat down on one of the many benches and sigh left her lips. She had everything going through her mind then but above anything else, her past was running through her mind. It was strange to her. She didn't remember any of it and she didn't feel like she had lived it but she knew she had and it scared her. Her past was, literally, coming back to haunt her.

"Maybe finding out why I was sent here was a mistake," Shelby commented softly to no one.

"What?" Scott asked from behind her.

Shelby jumped and almost screamed. She didn't hear Scott approach and she didn't know he was there. She hated that he scared her like that. She didn't know if he heard her or not but she was hoping that since he asked, 'what?' that it meant he didn't. She didn't want him to know about her past. Shelby wasn't sure if he did already but if he didn't, she didn't want to tell him.

"Nothing," She dismissed.

"I wish you wouldn't push me away," Scott said and sat down next to Shelby on the bench. "What's been on your mind so much lately?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Shelby replied and shook her head softly.

"Well, whatever it is, you can't avoid it forever."

"Sure I can," Shelby replied a little coldly.

Shelby stood up from the benches and walked away, leaving Scott alone in shock. He didn't understand why she was pushing him away so much. He knew everything there was to know about her. He didn't know what could be so bad that she thought she couldn't talk to him about.

Shelby walked quickly away from the gazebo, hugging herself arms to her chest. She wanted to talk to someone about her past but she knew she wouldn't; she couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to talk about the horrible things she had done and let others do to her. They were too much for her to grasp so she didn't understand how someone else could, least of all Scott.

_I don't understand it, _Shelby thought. _How could he?_

_

* * *

_

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce **and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

Okay, so, I know this took forver to get up and I'm very, very, very(etc.) sorry about that. I had my finals for school and then I was working, A LOT. And then, my muse was playing major tricks on me. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with this story and then once I thought of it, I could only write a few hundred words at a time. I would get writng and I would be on a roll and then it would just stop. My muse would leave and not come back for days. It was horrible! So, I'm very sorry this took forever.

Another thing I'm going to say sorry for is this chapter in general. I know it's not very fun or well written but this was kind of a filler chapter. Over the next few chapters, I'm going to bring our fun Shelby back. She'll be more how she was at the beginning of the series. She'll have her witty remarks and basically be a bitch. I'll get to have fun with her and maybe then I can bring a little bit of comedy into it. So, it will hopefully be getting good again soon.

Okay, so, I only had 2 reviews last time. I know it wasn't the best chapter but I want to know if I completely screwed up or if people just didn't get around to reading it or what. Please(I'm begging here) review and let me know how I'm doing. Thanks!


	11. Silence

Shelby was just getting into bed when she noticed Juliet wasn't in her pajamas. She was wearing normal clothes as if she were going out. It didn't really worry Shelby that she was sneaking out or whatever she was planning on doing but wasn't that a little out of Juliet's jurisdiction? Wasn't Shelby the one who snuck out and broke the rules, not the precious, innocent Jules?

"Where are you going?" Shelby asked.

"Why do you care?" Juliet asked, not answering her question.

"So, the girl has an attitude. Finally, something grown up about you. Too bad your attitude is weak."

"Sorry, we can't all be major snobs like you."

"Oh, I'm hurt, really," Shelby said with fake sarcasm.

Juliet sighed and walked out of the girl dorm, leaving only Shelby and Daisy in there. Daisy walked out of the bathroom just as Juliet was leaving and she gave Shelby a somewhat confused look as to where she was going.

"It looks like the princess is finally breaking a rule," Shelby said to Daisy.

Daisy gave a shrug and dismissed the topic. She didn't need or want to hear Shelby complain about Juliet. She was her best friend, yes, and would listen to her but she wouldn't like it. The last few days, Shelby had been different and Daisy picked up on it. She thought about asking on more than one occasion but she recognized the Shelby she was dealing with and decided otherwise. It was a smart choice on her part.

* * *

Juliet was laying with her small frame resting on Auggie's body. They normally weren't the type to sneak out for middle of the night rendezvous but Juliet had insisted. She wanted out of the girls dorm for a night and wanted to see Auggie away from others so the idea worked out perfectly for her. And Auggie, of course, complied. 

"So, you're the one who wanted to do this," Auggie said. "What's up, twig?"

"Do you think I'm childish?" Juliet asked.

"Childish? No. Why?"

"It's just…never mind."

"No, talk to me, Jules."

"Shelby keeps calling me childish and stuff. She says I don't live in the real world," Juliet answered, sounding very frustrated.

"Shelby's been giving you shit?" Auggie asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah. She was great right after the accident and she was nice even but lately it's been like she's the same old Shelby she's always been."

"Like how she was before the accident?"

"No. Like how she was last year. Way before the accident. Before her and Scott and before she learned to like all of us."

"She loves all of us, Jules. She never claimed to like us," Auggie said with a smile.

"You know what I mean," Juliet replied. "She just seems like she's trying to isolate herself again."

Juliet pulled her small body off of Auggie and turned to face him. She didn't like having the conversation without being able to look at Auggie. She wanted to know how crazy he really thought she was. Juliet didn't think she was crazy though. Shelby had been acting differently and it's not wrong that she brought her thoughts to the attention of her boyfriend. Auggie was someone she could trust to not think she was crazy and super naïve.

"Why would Shelby be isolating herself? She's not exactly the type to sit in a corner," Auggie said.

"I know. But she wasn't always this social, ya know. She used to try and keep the topic off of her as much as possible and she used to…oh, I don't know," Juliet said. "Feel free to ignore me at any time, Auggusto."

Auggie smiled at the fact that Juliet used his full name. She was the only one he was okay with calling him that besides his Mother. And even if he didn't like his Mother calling him it, he didn't have a say in the matter. He could tell Juliet not to call him that and she would but he wouldn't tell her that. He actually liked that he called him his full name every now and then.

"Look, stop worrying about Shelby. She's a tough girl with or without a memory and she can handle herself," Auggie said.

"I know. But I wish she didn't have to be so strong all the time," Juliet said.

"It's how she likes it, twig. We can't argue it."

"Easy for you to say. She's not mean to you."

"I've been on the receiving end of Shelby's remarks more than once before."

"Yeah, but she's not mean to you now. Even without a memory she hates me."

"She's not mean to me now because I let her be. If she came to me, I would listen but I don't push like you do sometimes. And she don't hate you, Jules. You're just like a sister to her. She loves you but that doesn't mean she always has to like you."

"She's not like this to Daisy," Juliet argued.

"Hey, twig, I don't want to argue this with you. Just trust me when I say that Shelby don't hate you. Alright?" Auggie asked gently.

Auggie didn't want to argue the matter with Juliet. She was being pretty naïve about the situation but Auggie wouldn't say that to her face. She just needed to not worry so much. Shelby had a lot going on at that time so Auggie couldn't blame her for not always being a socialite. Not everyone was a ray of sunshine like Juliet. But she didn't see that.

"Fine," Juliet said, nearly pouting.

Auggie felt a little bad for making Juliet pout. She was one of the only people who could make him feel guilty about anything. But she was damn good at it. And she knew it too. Auggie wanted to say sorry but he thought apologies were over rated. Instead, his apology was a brief kiss on Juliet's lips. When he pulled away, he saw her smiling and knew instantly that she accepted his form of an apology.

Juliet positioned herself back on Auggie and got comfortable. Auggie didn't mind either. He liked the feel of Juliet in arms. He held her and let himself relax with her on him. It felt good to relax and just to be with her again. They hadn't been that close in a long time and he missed it.

* * *

Shelby walked into the girls dorm after dinner and was so tired that she didn't even realize the note on her bed until she sat on it. She felt the paper under her and moved a little so she could grab it out from under her. Shelby was confused. Why would someone write her a letter? And who was it from? She flipped open the sheet and her questions were answered. 

On plain notebook paper in black pen, she read:

**Shelby,**

**I don't know what's been going on with you but I'm worried. Can you meet me at the docks tonight at midnight? Hope to see you there.**

**Love,**

**Scott.**

Shelby rolled her eyes and refolded the note. She wondered why Scott couldn't take a hint. If she wanted to talk to him, she would have. She figured that if she still had a memory, she probably would have told him about everything she read in her file but she didn't have it in her to tell him. She might have already told him, she didn't know. But if she hadn't yet, then she wanted to keep it that way. She was too ashamed of what she read to tell anyone.

Instead of talking about it, she had been avoiding it. Shelby used her attitude for protection. She avoided talking about herself and the little things she knew about her past. But she also couldn't help but feel that since she went through so much in her past, she deserved a little respect. It was ironic, really. She was ashamed of her past but at the same time, she sort of thought she should be respected for it. She was surely the strongest one there because of it, right? She had to have been. Shelby was the only one to overcome something that bad. True, she didn't really know everyone else's story but the fact that she dealt with a sexually abusive step father, lived on the streets and then called the cops on her step father said something, right?

Shelby tossed the note to the side just as Daisy and Juliet walked into the room with smiles on their faces.

"What was that?" Juliet asked.

"Why do you care?" Shelby asked, sounding almost instantly irritated.

"Just wondering."

"Yeah, too bad all you do is wonder."

"Why do you always have to be so mean?"

"Because I take pride in provoking people," Shelby answered, leaning forward a bit. "Call it vice. Call it a virtue."

Juliet rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. She hated that Shelby was being her old cruel self again. She missed the Shelby who was actually semi nice to her. True, they were never best friends and they didn't always get along but Shelby had been extra cruel lately. And not just really to Juliet but to everyone. It just seemed like it was Juliet the most. Maybe Auggie was right. Maybe it was because she pushed. But was it so wrong to worry about someone?

Shelby didn't like it when people worried about her. With or without a memory, that was something that wasn't going to change about her. She hated when people pushed her on matters when she had already made it more than clear that she didn't want to talk. By tossing the note aside, she was making it clear that she didn't want to talk about it or really even want them to know about it. She didn't want people worrying about her or questioning her like she was some kid.

Shelby understood people worrying about her though. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been pretty obvious about something being wrong with her. She'd been distant and mean for no reason. She wasn't expecting people to notice that easily. But what she didn't know was that they had dealt with that girl before. They all dealt with the cold and cruel girl she was being. They recognized what she was doing and she didn't like it at all. It made everyone worry which caused them to question.

Shelby was going to avoid those questions as much as possible. And that meant not going to see Scott that night. She felt a little bad for shutting him out so completely but she couldn't bring herself to answer the questions she knew he would ask. And she had feeling that if she did go to see him, she would cave and tell him. It would be like walking right into a trap. Shelby was smart. She wasn't going to walk right into that trap and let herself tell Scott her whole life story. She wasn't ready for that yet. Would she ever will be? She didn't know but she knew she wasn't ready yet.

* * *

Scott paced back forth at the docks as he waited to Shelby to show up. It was a quarter past a midnight – fifteen minutes after he asked her to be there. She wasn't coming. Scott knew it but he didn't want to admit it to himself. He should have known that she wasn't going to come but hope got the best of him and he found himself at the docks at twelve on the dot. He wanted to leave but, what if she came? What if she was just late? Yeah, right. 

Scott sighed deeply as he ran one of his hands through his short blonde curls. He sat down on one of the benches and gazed off into the water. He watched as it crashed up against the docks. It created a soothing sounds but it didn't help him in that moment. Nothing helped.

It took Scott several more minutes to finally realize and accept the fact that Shelby wasn't going to show up. She stood him up, again. It was in that moment that he noticed she was reverting back to her old self. He didn't know what sparked it, though. What could have happened in Peter's office that day was so bad?

Scott stood up to leave when he heard a stick break from someone stepping on it. The hope in his stomach was rekindled. Could it have really been Shelby? Was she just half an hour late? The flame in his stomach burned out the moment he was who it was. It wasn't Shelby like he hoped but Ezra.

"Oh, you," Scott said to him.

"Don't sound so enthused," Ezra replied.

"Sorry."

"Still waiting for Shelby?"

"Yeah," Scott said and furrowed his eye brows to Ezra. "How do you know?"

"I saw you writing to note."

"You were spying?"

"Observing," Ezra corrected with a grin.

"Right," Scott said with a small smile and a nod.

Scott sat back down on one of the benches and Ezra followed his lead. Ezra wasn't sure why he really showed up but he knew Shelby wouldn't and he figured that Scott would need a friend. From what he saw, he guessed right. Scott was holding onto false hope and Ezra knew it. Actually, he understood it all to well. He loved that Scott and Shelby were together, they were good together and helped each other but he still remembered when he was fixated with the girl.

Ezra saw more than most people noticed. He saw Shelby slipping back into her old self long before anyone else and he saw Scott's frustration over it. No one suspected Ezra to know anything because he was always quiet and he stayed out of the way but what a lot of people didn't realize was that nobody noticing him gave him the ability to know so much. Everyone brought it on themselves.

"Scott, why did you want her to meet you?" Ezra asked casually.

"I'm worried about her," Scott answered simply. "She doesn't have a memory so she doesn't know that she trusts me. If she had her memory, whatever's bothering her wouldn't have been a problem because she would have told me."

"Are you sure she would have told you? You know her better than anyone except maybe Daisy which means you should know that with or without a memory, Shelby likes to keep her problems to herself."

"I know. It's just…I'm worried."

"I understand that. But you need to understand where Shelby's coming from."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, giving Ezra a sideways look.

"Maybe whatever happened to her in Peter's office that day is something she's not ready to talk about. And it might even be something you already know but she doesn't know that. She doesn't know how much about her problems or why she's here you know. And just maybe she doesn't want you to know."

"Why wouldn't she want me to know, though? I already know why she's here and I know about her past and I accept it."

"But she doesn't know that," Ezra reminded. "Behind the smoke screen she's wearing right now, there's something else besides smoke. We all know it. But she doesn't know how well we know her."

"Well, how are we suppose to tell her that we all understand if she keeps standing us up?"

"We won't know until she wants us to. Shelby's always been like this, Scott. She's stubborn and she's ashamed of more than half the things she's done in her life. Put those two things together and it will make anyone a little distant and crabby."

Scott sighed deeply. He realized how completely and utterly right Ezra was. He knew Shelby better than most. He hated the fact that he needed Ezra for translation in that moment. Shelby had been through too much to just open up to people she didn't know. In actuality, she knew Scott and loved Scott but the fact that she didn't remember all that was really paying a toll on their relationship.

"How is it that you know all this and I don't?" Scott asked.

"I see things that most people don't," Ezra answered with a small and almost sad smile. "She'll come to you when she's ready. But you can't push her. If you push her, it will only make things worse."

"I know. But I can't not push her. Something happened to her and she's not the same Shelby she was before the accident."

"Actually, she is. She's the same girl she was long before the accident. She's the Shelby you didn't like," Ezra reminded Scott with a smile.

"Yeah, but I know that's not the real Shelby. That's a mask she wore."

"I know. And if she's wearing that mask again then there's a reason. We don't know what that reason is and we won't until she wants us to. Just like before, we just have to deal with it until she's ready to tell us what it is."

Scott understood where Ezra was coming from but he still found it strange that he knew more about it than he did. Did Shelby talk to him or was he seriously telling the truth? Does he just see things that others don't?

"Did she say anything to you?" Scott asked.

"No," Ezra answered. "You and Daisy are going to be the first people she talks to about whatever is bothering her. I just understand her right now."

Both the boys stayed silent for several moments. It was as if they had a mutual understanding that neither of them should speak right then while Scott processed everything Ezra had said. Everything he said was beginning to sink into him and he didn't like it. He was a patient guy and he didn't want to wait for Shelby to come around and talk to him. But he didn't have any other choice. No one could force Shelby to do anything and he knew it. He just needed to be patient. She would eventually come around and talk to him.

"Thanks," Scott said softly.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Ezra replied with a smile.

"I'm serious."

"Me too."

The boys stood up from the benched and Scott wrapped one of his arms around Ezra's shoulders. They were friends, in a way that not a lot of people outside of Horizon would ever understand. Everyone there was like family. They didn't always like each other but they always loved each other. And that was what all of them needed. But sometimes, they didn't need family, they needed friends. And they could all be there for each other in that sense too.

* * *

The next day, after everyone was done with breakfast, they were all on their way to class. Breakfast was surprisingly quiet but it was due mostly to the fact that the one who usually talked the most at breakfast was tired for he was out late helping a friend. Juliet and Ezra were always the talkative ones in the morning. Juliet didn't really have an excuse but Ezra was exhausted. 

On the way to class, Scott caught up with Shelby. He grabbed her arm to get her attention. Shelby turned around to face him with a blank expression. She knew what he wanted. He wanted an explanation for standing him up the night before. The only problem was, she wasn't ready to give him an explanation; she didn't have to give him, actually.

"Hey," Scott said, trying for a casual approach.

"Hi," Shelby said with a forced smile and started to walk again.

"Did you get my note?" Scott asked as he walked next to her.

"Yes."

"But you didn't show up."

"Ah, so you noticed."

"It's kind of hard not to notice getting stood up."

"I didn't stand you up," Shelby stated. "If I had agreed to this little get together than it could have been considered as standing you up but I didn't. You can't just expect me to drop what I'm doing to come and meet you in the middle of the night.

"Well, forgive me for worrying about my girlfriend," Scott retorted sarcastically.

"You're saying that to a girl who doesn't remember that she's your girlfriend!" Shelby spat back.

Scott sort of recoiled away from her. He knew he was pushing her too much to quickly but he couldn't not. If things were normal, nothing like this would be going on. Shelby would have remembered that she trusted him and she would have told him whatever it was that happened in Peter's office. For all either of them knew, it was something that Scott already knew about but Shelby wasn't aware of.

Scott's sadness was evident on his face. Shelby could see that hurt him with her was and what she had been doing lately. But she couldn't help it. She knew that if her memory was there and if she remembered Scott that things would be completely different. But the hard truth was: her memory wasn't there. She didn't know how much Scott knew about her past. And if he didn't know about what she had done then she wanted to keep it that way. But Shelby couldn't deny that she felt a little guilty about hurting the man she was suppose to love.

"Look, I'm sorry," Shelby said as she stopped walking at to him with serious eyes. "But what happened to me was something big. It was too big for me to just go around talking about."

"Did you ever think that I might already know whatever is bothering you?" Scott asked as gently as he could.

"Of course I did. But if it's something you don't know, I want to keep it that way."

"You can trust me, Shelby."

"Not with this. Not yet," Shelby said with a sad tone. "Maybe someday I will get around to telling you everything but right now I can't. And I need you to respect that."

"I do respect it, Shelby," Scott said softly. "I'm just worried about you."

"I get that but you don't have to be. If everything I saw is true then I'm a tough girl. I can deal with it."

"I know your strong, Shelby. I just wish you didn't have to be so strong all the time."

"So do I," Shelby said with a sad smile.

Shelby raised on her hands to the side of Scott's face and touched him gently. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. She gave another sad smile before she removed her hand and walked away. She couldn't be near him right then. If she started talking to him then she would tell him everything. It would all just spill out and she wouldn't be able to stop it.

Shelby knew that if she told him about her past that he would hate her forever. She couldn't deal with that. She wouldn't be able to stand him hating her because in spite of everything, she still loved him. With or without a memory, Shelby knew deep down that her loving him was something that was never going to change. She wanted him to love her back and she knew he wouldn't if he knew about everything she'd done.

Shelby stayed quiet. She wanted to save her relationship with Scott but what she didn't know was that by staying quiet, she was slowly destroying it.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce **and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

Second, I'm sooo sorry this took soo long. I wasn't expecting it to. But it seems that getting into the mindset of old Shelby and everyone else was easier said than done. I think I did a semi-good job with it. Once I got writing it all came so quickly for me. My muse was with me when I started this chapter, thank God. If she wasn't, I don't know how long you guys would have been waiting for this chapter.

For anyone who cares, I'm writing a 'Haunted' chapter next. It will hopefully be the second to last chapter. Then I will probably go back to my 'Firefly' fic for a little while and get an update for that story. After that, I will finish planning out 'A New Life'(the sequal to The Truth Comes Out) then I will get and 'All because of a Play' update and hopefully write the first chapter of 'A New Life'. Now everyone, please don't get too excited. I don't know how long it will take me to get around to it. Hopefully, I can get all that stuff done with in the next 2-3 months. I'm trying to get an update up every 3 weeks or so but I make no promices.

As always, please review! It's your opinions that matter to me.


	12. UhOh

All the Cliffhangers were sitting in class, listening to Sophie talk about World War II. History class was never one of anyone's favorites but it was required so they sat there and listened.

Shelby wasn't really paying any attention to the class. She knew everything Sophie was talking about. She knew how the United States got into the war, she knew all about the fascist dictators during that time, she knew about D-day, she knew how everything ended, and how everything started. This was nothing knew to her. Shelby didn't know how she knew about history so well since she didn't even know about her own history that well but she knew it.

"Now, who was the president that decided to drop the atomic bombs?" Sophie asked the class, spreading her arms out in front of her.

"Wasn't Roosevelt president then?" Juliet asked, obviously unsure.

"No, princess," Shelby said, finally taking part in the class. "Roosevelt was president during _most_ of World War II but Truman took over office on April 12th."

"So?"

"The atomic bombs were dropped on August 6th and 9th," Shelby said with a 'duh' manner. "Do the math."

"Why do you always have to be so mean?" Juliet asked in a huff.

Sophie stayed quiet through the debate going on between the two girls mostly out of shock. She was surprised that Shelby knew so much about American history without a memory. Everyone was actually a little surprised by it. But the Doctor had told them the type of amnesia she had was a very rare case in which they still remembered almost everything. It was more personal things that they had difficult recalling.

"I hate to say it, Shelby, but Juliet has a point," Sophie said. "I'm impressed that you knew the answer with such detail, but you didn't need to throw it in her face like that."

"Oh, please don't lecture me because I knew something the ditz didn't know," Shelby said with an eye roll.

"Okay, first off, don't call her that! She was making an effort which is more than I could say for you the last few days of class. And you're not getting lectured because of your intelligence. You're being lectured because of how you chose to show it."

"Well, forgive me for giving the class the correct answer," Shelby said with sarcasm while sitting back in her chair.

Sophie and Shelby kept their blue eyes fixed on each other. Neither of them looked away or faltered. Shelby was giving her famous attitude to Sophie and she just wasn't buying it. Sophie had seen the real Shelby and she knew this wasn't her. It's hard to make someone believe you're a cold hearted bitch when they've seen you cry, or you've gone to them for help. Sophie needed to show Shelby that she wasn't going to put up with her attitude. It was tough love, true, but it was needed.

"The truth is, I don't care if it was the correct answer," Sophie began. "You know your history. Congratulations. But you continue to put Juliet down, and you continue to show off your attitude. I'm sick of it!"

"And what are you going to do to stop me from showing off my attitude?" Shelby asked with a chuckle. "Are you going to try and be my Mother now? Are you going to ground me or something?"

"Or something," Sophie answered with a nod. "But I'm not your Mother. I'm your counselor and your teacher. And as counselor and teacher, I could punish you for your attitude."

"Well, are you going to? Or do you prefer to just talk me to death?"

"Ya know, you pushing me isn't helping your case," Sophie said. "You're just making me more creative."

"So, dish out the punishment, already. Because spitting words back and forth is getting old fast."

"Dishes tonight, by yourself."

"Is that it?" Shelby asked with a smirk. "And here I thought with all your warning that it would be something bad."

Sophie was surprised by Shelby emotions towards being stuck on dishes that night. Or rather, her lack of emotions about being stuck on dishes that night. The girl didn't seem to care. Usually, dishes were Shelby's least favorite thing to do at Horizon. It caught Sophie off guard.

"I could add a week of shuns to that," Sophie stated.

"Then do it," Shelby retorted with a shrug. "Maybe it'll make some people finally leave me alone."

Shelby didn't say Scott's name directly or even really acknowledge him through out class at all but he knew that her 'some people' meant him. Still, she didn't look at him, she didn't talk to him, she didn't touch, she didn't do anything to make anyone think she was talking about him. Only her and Scott knew that she was addressing him with saying that. And the words hit Scott like a slap in the face.

"Here's the deal, Shelby, I know you don't have a memory so we're suppose to be going easy on you but I'm done with that. You never responded well to kindness so I don't know why any of us ever thought that would change," Sophie said while crossing her arms over her chest. "So tonight, you're going to meet me in the kitchen at 6:30 p.m. sharp. If you're late, you will get that week of shuns. You'll eat diner in back and when everyone's done, you get to have fun doing everyone's dishes."

The whole class was silent, even Shelby. Sophie was really being cold to the girl. But she had a point. They tried going easy on Shelby and it wasn't helping. If anything, it was making matters worse. Sophie was never one for going easy on the kids. She believed in tough love and, nine times out of ten, her method worked. One of the reasons it always worked so well with Shelby was because that was exactly how she worked as well. Shelby never liked to be babied or babying anyone else. If Shelby dished out attitude and coldness, then Sophie would give it right back at her. Shelby responded to her own attitude and Sophie was going to count on that. It had never let her down in the past.

Shelby didn't know it, but she was the same girl everyone had dealt with before. Sophie recognized what the girl was doing. She was also well aware of what had happened in Peter's office and why she was doing it. Sophie knew she was dealing with the same Shelby she had dealt with before. She liked it because it gave her and advantage. Sophie knew the old Shelby, but Shelby didn't know Sophie. Maybe, if all went well, Sophie could make Shelby see that, just like before, she didn't have to be so strong. She didn't need to hide behind her attitude.

"Alright, class dismissed," Sophie said and went back to her desk. "And remember, Shelby, 6:30 sharp."

"Yeah, yeah," Shelby said as everyone walked out of the room.

While walking, Scott caught up with Shelby and got her attention by grabbing her hand. He wasn't forceful or anything but it was enough to make Shelby whip around to face him. She wasn't in the mood to talk. But Scott was adamant in that moment. He wanted an explanation for what she said in class.

"What?" Shelby snapped.

"What was with that comment in class?" Scott asked.

"What comment? I said a lot of things in class. You're going to have to be a little bit more specific."

"That some people will finally leave you alone comment."

Shelby let a small laugh escape her lips. She rolled her eyes at Scott's apparent pain from the words. She had to literally bite her tongue to stop herself from saying something much crueler than her words in class. She understood that Scott cared but he wasn't comprehending the whole backing off thing she talked to him about.

"I told you I needed you to stop pushing and you still are," Shelby answered.

"I haven't asked you about what's been bugging you since you asked me to stop," Scott responded.

"Yes, you have! Although now instead of coming right out with it, you've been going for a more subtle approach. The simple, 'hey, what's up?' technique."

"Is it so wrong to ask you what's up?"

"It is when I can tell by the look in your eyes that you're hoping I'll explain everything to you when I had already made it abundantly clear that I would when I was ready."

"What is your problem?" Scott almost yelled, completely frustrated with the situation.

Scott took a deep breath to try and relax himself but it was to no avail. He was stressed about what was troubling Shelby and her not telling him a thing wasn't helping. He just wanted to make sure she was okay and all she was doing was giving him her oh-so-cold attitude.

"Just back off, Scott!" Shelby yelled.

Shelby stormed away from Scott in a huff. He didn't try going after her. It was a smart choice on his part. She couldn't be near him anymore. It killed her to lie to him but she couldn't tell him what she had read, and he wouldn't leave her alone about it. She thought that if she was cruel enough to him that he would back off in anger or pain but nothing was working. She just had to avoid him.

It was almost comforting to her that Scott cared about her so much that he wouldn't be driven away by her attitude, but it just made things harder and harder for Shelby. Deep down, she knew she still loved him. She didn't know how she had learned to love him or why but she knew she did. Shelby knew there had to have been something huge that happened between them for them to care about each other that much but she didn't know what it was.

The whole not having a memory thing was really starting to bother Shelby. And the worst part about it was: she couldn't do a damn thing about it!

* * *

All the Cliffhangers-save for Shelby-sat down at their usual table in the dining room. They started eating in silence. None of them really felt like talking. Not to mention, there was nothing to really talk about.

The high light of the say was the argument between Sophie and Shelby during history class. They were all present for that. There was no need to talk about something everyone already knew everything about. They knew Shelby's attitude, and they knew Sophie's tolerance level. They all knew the disagreement would end badly for Shelby.

"I still can't believe she was so mean in class today," Juliet said, having to make a comment.

"Who? Shelby?" Ezra asked. "She's paying for it now. Calm down."

"Besides why do you care?" David asked.

"Because I'm the one she was mean to," Juliet answered.

"Oh, please. She corrected your mistake," He stated. "You can't hate her because she's smarter than you."

"Why do you always gotta drag her down?" Auggie asked, obviously irritated.

"I wasn't saying it to drag her down. I said it because it's a fact."

"But she's mean to me," Jules exclaimed. "She's so much meaner to me than she is to any of you."

"Don't be too sure about that," Scott said with a look to show his pain.

"But her cruelness towards you just happened. She's always hated me."

"Don't flatter yourself," Daisy said. "She doesn't dislike you anymore than the rest of us."

"Yeah, this coming from her best friend," Jules said. "Of course you'd defend her."

"I'm not defending her because she's my best friend. I don't care how good of friends I am with something, I don't defend something that isn't fact based," Daisy said very matter-of-factly. "So, I'm telling you that Shelby doesn't hate you. She just has a lot on her mind."

Daisy knew Shelby probably better than anyone else at that table. The only one who came close was Scott. But he wasn't about to defend her since he had also been feeling the sting of Shelby's sharp tongue.

"Sam goes for you," Daisy said and glanced at Scott.

Scott offered the girl next to him a small smile. Deep down, he believed and understood Daisy's words, but he was finding it harder and harder to keep that belief. Maybe he was pushing her too much, but he worried about her. He couldn't force himself to stop worrying about the love of his life.

Daisy slid her hand across the table to meet Scott's. She touched him gently and their eyes met. They both had looks of sorrow on their face, but they also both completely understood how the other was feeling. Daisy had been there for Scott whole time. She was the one he cried to, and she was the one who supported him. It was clear that he needed her support again.

"Come on," Daisy said, motioning her head to the door.

Scott didn't argue. He stood up from the table and followed Daisy to the door. They were still holding hands but it was mostly because Daisy was leading the boy to where she wanted them to be.

The pair walked silently until the reached the docks. Scott hesitated before stepping onto the wood but Daisy insisted and wasn't letting go of his hand so he had no choice. He didn't want to be at the docks though. They brought back too many memories of Shelby and of times with Shelby. He had a lot of good times with her there. Then again, he had some bad ones with her there too.

"What are we doing here?" Scott asked as he let go of Daisy's hand.

"Do you know why I brought you here?" Daisy asked, not answering his question. "Think about why I might bring you here right now."

Scott gave Daisy an almost cold look. She didn't back away from his look. No one could give a glare quite like Daisy could so she was never effected by someone else's glares. They were just looks. They had an emotion behind them that usually meant the person was thinking about breaking something but it was still just a look. Daisy wasn't going to back down.

"This is where you and Shelby always go," Daisy said.

"Yeah, I know," Scott said with a 'duh' tone evident in his voice.

"So, why did I bring you here?"

"How should I know? This is your twisted mind at work here, not mine."

"Think, Scott! There's a brain in that head somewhere," Daisy said, in a tired tone despite how sincere her actions really were.

"What do you want from me!?" Scott almost yelled.

"I want you to finally realize why Shelby is treating you the way she is. I want you to think about why I brought you to the docks. I want you to understand why those two things are connected. And I want you to stop moping around because your girl friend isn't Mary sun shine right now!"

Maybe Daisy was being a little bit cold towards Scott in that moment. But that was what he needed. He needed something close to a reality smack and Daisy would have to be the one to give it to him. She cared for him as a friend and wanted to be there for him, but she was getting fed up with Scott taking everything so personal. He was being his typical self by thinking only about himself, and his own worries and problems. He needed to think from Shelby's point of view in that moment and that seemed like a foreign concept to him.

"Well, what if I can't do that?" Scott asked. "I can't force myself to not worry about Shelby. I worry about her problems and how she's treating me."

"She's not singling you out, Scott," Daisy said. "You're taking it harder than everyone else though."

"Why are we here, Daisy?"

"Because this is where you and Shelby always go."

"So what. Why is that relevant?"

Daisy took a deep breath to relax herself. If Scott didn't work with her than her plan wasn't going to work. She knew what she was trying to accomplish, but he obviously didn't. He was growing frustrated and she could understand that for she, too, was growing frustrated.

"Think of a good time you and Shelby spent here," Daisy ordered. "Think of a time where you really gained her trust here."

Scott could think of several good moments between him and Shelby at the docks. He could also think of some bad ones. There was one memory that stood out in his mind about him gaining her trust. It was after he had finally accepted her history on the streets and with Walt. They met there and talked, and it ended with them in a hug, Shelby crying in Scott's arms.

"Okay," Scott said. "Now what do you want me to do with it?"

"Think about how Shelby doesn't remember that," Daisy answered. "You know that she trusts you. You know that she told you all about her past. You know that if she had a memory this wouldn't be a problem. She doesn't!"

"So, why did you bring me here?"

"The memory you thought of about you gaining her trust, did it happen here?"

"Yeah.

"That's why. Most of your memories were here," Daisy said simply. "What you need to do is re-gain that trust. And you're not going to get that by pushing her."

Daisy had so many thoughts passing through her mind in that moment but she cast them all away. The only important thing was that Scott was finally working with her. She might be able to get him to understand after all. What neither of them realized was that Daisy was acting a lot like a counselor in that moment. She was helping Scott but it was in a somewhat unconventional way.

"Think about how Shelby's acting. She's acting exactly how she was before when she was ashamed and used her mask to hide how she felt," Daisy said.

"How do you know that?" Scott asked.

"I was the first person to truly recognize that mask before, and I'm the one to recognize it now."

The pair both sat down on a bench next to each other. Daisy looked over at Scott and realized that she was finally getting to him. He was actually listening to and comprehending everything she was saying about Shelby. Maybe her words were finally sinking in enough to the point that he would back off and let her be.

"She'll come around, Scott," Daisy said and patted the man on the knee in a comforting manner. "She'll come around just like she did before but we have to be patient. She doesn't remember that she trusts us and that we know everything there is to know about her. Once she realizes that, she'll be okay."

"I've never been a patient person, Daisy," Scott replied.

"Well, then, you'll just have to learn to be patient."

The pair shared a similar smile between them. Scott nodded, and his nod meant a million things. It meant 'thank you' it meant that he understood, and it meant that he was going to try to be patient. There was no other choice. Daisy nodded back as if to say, 'you're welcome'. Neither of them spoke though. They sat in silence and understanding.

* * *

Shelby was standing in back as more and more dishes got put into the pile. She gave a cold glare to every person to add a tray and more dishes to the pile. She hated doing dishes. She knew her punishment was going to suck but she didn't think dishes would be that bad. Shows what she knew.

Meanwhile, Sophie leaned against the wall with a cup of tea in her hands, watching the girl. Sophie kind of felt bad that Sophie was doing all the dishes by herself but that was her punishment. Shelby deserved to be punished for her attitude in class, not just her attitude towards Sophie but also for her cruelness to Juliet.

"In hell, there must be pots and pans," Shelby said as she threw the metal scrubber into the current pot she was cleaning.

"Want some help?" Sophie suggested as she pulled herself off the wall.

"Why would you help me? You're the one who stuck me on this."

"Yes, I'm the one who stuck you on this, but I figure that you'll resent me forever if I don't, at least, offer to help."

"Be my guest."

Sophie took that as a 'yes' and grabbed a pair of gloves. She put the huge, blue gloves on and went over to the sinks by Shelby. She grabbed a near by tray and started to wash it in silence. The silence was inevitable, she figured, but she couldn't help but want to talk to the young girl. There was something on her mind and she hoped to find out what it was. Maybe she could even help.

"So, why have you been giving so much attitude to everyone lately?" Sophie asked, as casual as possible.

"Please don't tell me you're going to use this time to try and get me to talk," Shelby replied, not answering the question.

"I'm not going to force you to talk but talking might help."

"Ya know what would help? If you stayed out of it."

Sophie gave an almost sad smile. She knew Shelby had a lot on her mind with what she was told in Peter's office that day but that didn't give her an excuse to be excessively mean, which is exactly what she was doing.

"Okay, look, I'm not giving you an option," Sophie stated. "Either you talk to me about it, you talk to Peter about, we work it out in group, or you're on dish duty until you do."

Shelby gave Sophie a cold glare. Who did this woman think she was? She couldn't force the girl to talk. And didn't she just say she wasn't going to force her? Shelby was growing very frustrated very quickly. She didn't want to talk about what was on her mind, or what has been bothering her. If she wanted to talk about it, she would have.

"You can't force me to talk!" Shelby almost screamed. "I may not have a memory, but I know the rules. You can't force me to tell you something I don't want to tell."

"What if you're not telling me it, though. What if it's something I already know?" Sophie asked.

"What if it is? That doesn't mean I want to talk about it!"

Sophie gave another sad smile at Shelby's attitude. She wasn't going to fight it, knowing all to well how cruel Shelby could be. But she was going to make the girl talk. Sophie knew about what had happened in Peter's office. It was bound to make anyone mad. Shelby's life wasn't an easy one.

"Does it have anything to do with what you read in your file?" Sophie asked.

"How do you know about that?" Shelby asked before she could stop herself.

"I'm your counselor, Shelby. Peter had to tell me that you knew. You're life was difficult, there's no doubt about that. You over came a lot of things, and you're a very strong woman because of those things."

Shelby kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the pot in front of her. She didn't want to talk about what she had read in her file. It was too horrible for her to read let alone talk about. Of course, Sophie knew all about what was in her file but that didn't change the fact that Shelby was ashamed of it all. She didn't do those things. At least, the girl she was without a memory didn't, but it was still that body and that person who had been through all of that and had committed all of that.

"Why doesn't he just tell the whole damn school?" Shelby asked out of anger more than anything else.

"It wouldn't have done anything," Sophie answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone, or at leas anyone who matters, already know about what's in your file."

"How?"

"You told them," Sophie responded with simplicity.

"I what?"

Shelby couldn't even finish what she was going to say. She was so shocked that she had actually trusted all of them enough to tell them everything she read. Telling them about Walt was one thing since she had no control over that. But what she did on the streets was something completely different. She was most ashamed of that over anything else. She didn't understand how any of them could even look at her after hearing what she did.

"They all know. Scott, Daisy, Ezra, all of them," Sophie said.

Shelby suddenly felt like a huge idiot. She was being so cruel to everyone because she didn't want them to know. She was keeping them at arms length so they wouldn't think less of her. What she didn't realize was that by doing that they thought less of her. They though highly of her before. Well, maybe not highly but they still loved her after knowing everything.

"Oh, shit," Shelby mumbled.

"What?" Sophie asked, letting the swear word slide.

"I've been strangely cruel to them because I didn't want them to find out."

"And now that you found out they already know, you feel guilty about it."

"A little, yeah."

"I think you owe them an apology," Sophie said.

"Oops," Shelby said with an innocent smile and a shrug.

Sophie smiled back to the girl in front of her. She managed to help, slightly. Shelby got herself into trouble and she got herself into that situation but Sophie was able to explain everything out and, hopefully, help.

Shelby heaved a deep sigh while she dropped the metal sponge into the water. She had a lot of explaining to do to the whole group. She screwed up and now she had to pay for it. It was going to be interesting, to say the least.

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce, weylela, xXxMaseyIsLovexXx,**and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

So, I got this chapter up semi-quickly. Only about 2 weeks between updates. Go me! Anyway, I think I like this chapter. I liked the confrontation between Shelby and Sophie in class and I loved Daisy playing counselor for Scott. I don't know, this chapter was surprisingly easy to write. I think it's because I finally thought of how I want this story to end. Yes, I thought of an ending. I have no idea when it's going to be, but I know what's going to happen and that's something.

So, I'm going to get an update for ABOAP and then I'm going back to Past, Present and Future(my firefly fic). After that, I'll do all these stories all over again. Also, while on my Higher Ground kick next time, I'm hoping to finally write "A Secret Slips". Also, Debbie, please private message me or e-mail me about that story. I have a question I would like to ask you, and since the whole idea was yours, I want to stay true to what you wanted.

As always, please review!


	13. Hope

Shelby woke up to the sound of Sophie's voice ringing through the air. Her eyes shot open quickly but she soon closed them again as a grumble left her mouth. She would have appreciated more time to sleep. Shelby had gotten used to having to wake up early so it wasn't the time that had effected her. It was that she had been up for several, long hours trying to think of what to say to everyone.

How could she tell people who were suppose to be like family to her that she was sorry for how she had been acting for the past month and a half? How could she apologize for acting absolutely horrible to them when they were only trying to help? How could she tell them that the only reason she was acting the way she did was because she didn't want them to find out something they already knew? The girl didn't know, and she didn't like it. But she knew they deserved an explanation so, whether she liked it or not, she had to give them one.

Shelby got out of her bed and began to get ready with ease. Every thing was like a normal morning in the dorms save for dirty looks from Juliet and a concerned ones from Daisy. The looks didn't help; they only made Shelby feel even more guilty, if that was possible. That evil emotion filled the pit of her stomach and made her want to scream and cry at the same time. She hoped that after her apology, that emotion would drift away but that was assuming she could actually get the apology out.

At breakfast, Shelby was quiet. Everyone was fairly quiet but Shelby was literally silent. She didn't speak a work through out the whole meal. She was too over come with thoughts and emotions to talk. Thinking about what to say or how to say it was exhausting. She seemed to be very far off, in a place no one could touch her; she was lost in her thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked carefully. "I don't mean to be pushing or anything, it's just, you seem a little out of it."

Shelby smiled. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking. I have a lot on my mind right now."

Scott gave Shelby a skeptical look. He wanted to believe her and to think that she was fine but she seemed so distracted. He didn't want to push her and drive her even further away from him but he couldn't help it sometimes. Worry was an emotion that over came Scott, it smothered him like water smothered a fire.

"Really, I'm fine," Shelby persisted and thought about it for a moment. "And, don't worry, you weren't pushing."

The pair shared a smile that was quickly interrupted by Sophie coming up to the table and announcing that it was time for group.

Shelby sighed, she couldn't help it. She had all last nigh and all morning to think about what to say to the group and she was still at a loss for words. She closed her eyes for a moment and clenched her jaw before she finally got out of her chair. Sophie's eyes caught hers within seconds and gave her a very commanding look.

"I know. I know," Shelby stayed, obviously frustrated.

"What do you know?" Scott asked, once again carefully.

Shelby thought about answering the question but settled for saying, "You'll find out."

Shelby walked into the lodge, leaving Scott thoroughly confused. He glanced at Sophie and she simply shook her head in a, 'don't look a me' sort of way. Scott just had to settle for the response he got; he would find out soon enough.

Everyone walked into the lodge and took their respective seats in the circle of chairs. No one spoke, they all simply waited for Sophie to tell them what they had to do that morning. However, Sophie stayed silent with her eyes cast to the young blonde of the group.

"Shelby, how about you begin?" Sophie suggested.

"You didn't even tell us what we were doing yet," Ezra stated, sounding somewhat confused.

"Yeah, well, this isn't going to be our typical group." Shelby commented.

Shelby stood from the chair while fidgeting with her hands in front of her. She was hoping it would help but it didn't so she finally gave up and let her arms rest at her sides. The young girl still hadn't thought of something to say. She was at a loss for words. But she figured that if these people were supposed to be like family that it shouldn't be that difficult. _Speak from the heart,_ she told herself silently.

"Okay, I know you guys have all noticed my attitude in the last month or so and I want to take this time to tell you all that I'm sorry," Shelby began, rather apprehensively. "I was hoping that if I was cold enough to you all that I could keep my secrets. However, I had recently been informed that my attempts were ridiculous because you all already knew what I was trying to hide." Shelby glanced and Sophie, who gave her a reassuring nod. "Not having a memory means that I don't remember that I trust you guys. I didn't realize how close I was with all of you or that I had already told you everything about me."

Shelby's voice had managed to stay fairly steady as she spoke. She was nervous as hell and didn't even know if she was getting what she was trying to say out. She didn't know how to apologize for what she had been doing. It's difficult to say sorry to people you know you hurt for no reason. Being cold hadn't kept her secret.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is just that I'm sorry," Shelby said, her eyes scanning the people before her. "And I hope you guys will forgive me for how I've been acting."

No one was looking at Shelby; they were all looking around the room, at each other. They all wanted to forgive her because they all understood where she was coming from. They knew the person they were dealing with from the beginning but that didn't make Shelby's words and actions hurt any less. Still, they all took into consideration that she apologized for it.

No one spoke still and Shelby didn't think that was a good sign. She braced herself for them to start yelling. She couldn't fully blame them if they did.

"Of course we forgive you," Ezra finally said, speaking for the whole group.

Shelby smiled. She felt like a weight had finally been lifted off of her shoulders. She didn't want these people to hate her for something she did. She would have brought it on herself but that didn't mean she would have liked it. She was happy to hear that they forgave her.

"We understand, Shel," Auggie said. "So, don't worry about it. We get you."

"Thanks, you guys," Shelby said with a gentle nod to everyone as she sat back down in her chair.

Sophie glanced around at the group and by the looks on all of their faces, she could tell they had been through enough that morning. She could let them pass without a real group meeting. They didn't need an exercise to show how they all felt or what was going on with all of them right now. They were okay and obviously drained with everything that had already happened.

"Okay, I think that's enough for this morning," Sophie said, standing up. "You're free to go."

Everyone stood up to leave the lodge. Scott, who stayed silent through out Shelby's whole apology, was the one closest to the door when Shelby grabbed his hand. He turned around and looked at her while fighting to keep his face unreadable. He didn't want to look at Shelby in that moment. He didn't really want anything to do with her. He accepted her apology but he couldn't bring himself to act like nothing had happened between them.

"Come on, I want to talk to you," Shelby said and started to lead him out of the lodge.

"What if I don't want to talk to you?" Scott retorted coldly and shook his hand free of Shelby's grip.

"Come on, Scott, please," Shelby pleaded with helplessness in her eyes and clearly written on her face.

Scott didn't know if it was the look on her face, the tone of her voice, or if it was that it was Shelby but he couldn't bring himself to continue to be cold. He caved and gave a soft nod. He followed her because he couldn't will himself not to. He didn't know what he was getting himself into but he couldn't help it. Part of him still hated Shelby for how he had been acting but there was bigger part of him that was simply hurt by it. But, if she was trying to make things right, he figured the least he could do was listen to her.

The pair stepped onto the docks, Shelby still being in the lead. Scott was following her but they weren't holding hands and he was avoiding looking at her. Shelby kept her eyes locked on the guy in front of her but she couldn't speak. She tried but it was as if her voice had disappeared. Once again, she didn't know quite what to say but she knew she had to say something. Scott deserved more than what she had said in the lodge.

"I'm sorry," Shelby was finally able to get out after 3 more tries. "I've been coldest to you and I know you've noticed it. But it was only because I valued your opinion more than anyone else's."

Scott kept his blue eyes fixed on one of the many benches. He knew if he looked at her, he would cave. Shelby was his one, true weakness and he knew it. He hated it, but he knew it none-the-less. Yet while Scott kept his eyes fixed on a bench, Shelby kept her eyes fixed on him.

"I know you were worried about me and I'm sorry for that too," Shelby continued. "You cared about me and I get that. I just didn't want you to find out what I read in my file. The thought that you might already know never crossed my mind because you loved me and I didn't think you would be able to love me if you knew everything in that file. I'm sorry, Scott. I don't know what else to say."

Scott listened and comprehended everything Shelby said. He understood why she would hide it but that didn't make it hurt any less. He felt like he did the year before when she didn't trust him enough to tell him, when she thought he would hate her for it. He had proven her wrong. But he kept forgetting that he wasn't dealing with the girl he had proven wrong.

"You thought like that last year too," Scott said after a long pause. "And I'm not going to lie, there were some things I couldn't deal with initially. But, eventually, we were both okay with it. I trusted you with everything in my past and you accepted it all. You were the one who was there to help me with everything, which is why when you woke up in the hospital I said I was your boyfriend and your best friend."

Scott didn't really know what he was saying or why he was saying it. It didn't matter though. The look on Shelby's face was all that mattered to him right then. He forced himself to look at her and he caved, just like he knew he would. He wasn't thinking about what he was saying; he was just letting everything pour out of him. Shelby was one of the only people, if not the only person, he could do that with.

"We've been through a lot together, Shel," Scott stated. "And one of the things we've learned through our trials is that we don't keep things from each other anymore. I understand why you did but it still hurt."

"I'm sorry," she said, before Scott could finish.

"I know you are. You didn't know. And it's okay. I should have backed off when you asked me to. I should have realized that you would come to me in time and that I couldn't push you. We'd been through this whole thing before so I should have known better. I guess, I'm sorry too."

"You don't need to be apologizing, Scott. I was the one who was the bitch and I was the one who…"

"Shh!" Scott scolded with a smile as he put his index finger to Shelby's lips to silence her. "We're good now. Don't ruin it."

Shelby's lips curved into a smile against Scott's finger. The pair shared that smile and suddenly it was as if they both had no worries in the world. There was nothing else that mattered but each other in that moment. Scott finally removed his finger, trusting Shelby to stay silent. They kept their eyes locked on each other for several long moments before Scott pulled Shelby into his arms.

It felt so good to have her in his arms again, to hold her. He missed that. He missed being able to hold her and comfort her and be comforted by her. He felt relaxed with her in his arms. Despite the rocky road the couple has traveled, Shelby was one of the few constants in Scott's life. He cherished times like this, when the world just washed away and there was nothing but them together, in each other's arms.

"I could stay like this forever," Shelby stated softly against Scott's chest.

"So could I," he agreed with a smile. "But, unfortunately, we can't. We have class."

"Do we have to go?" Shelby asked, not letting go of her grip on his waist.

"Yes."

Scott pulled away just enough so that Shelby would be forced to remove her head from his chest and look at him. He gazed down at her with a smile still on his face. He leaned down and gave her sweet, yet very brief kiss on the lips. He pulled away and turned to leave but Shelby wouldn't let go of his hand. He looked back at her with a curious look but she only shook her head in response. She pulled him back to her and they shared another kiss but it wasn't like the first. It was sweet, and gentle, and sensual but it wasn't brief.

When they parted from the second kiss, they both seemed to be thoroughly satisfied by the turn of events that morning and were more than willing to go to class. It's strange how love usually can conquer all things.

* * *

Peter sat behind his desk in his office, looking across as Sophie who sat in front of him in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk. He was frozen at what Sophie had said. He knew Shelby and was well aware of her attitude but she had never apologized for it before, even if she did think one was necessary. 

"She said sorry?" he asked, as if he wasn't quite sure about it.

"Yes," Sophie said with a nod. "The only reason she was freezing everyone out was because she didn't want them to know. Once I told them they already did, she felt horrible."

"Did everyone accept?"

"Yeah. I think they all knew what Shelby was doing from the get go. Without a memory, she doesn't realize that she can't fool them."

"True. It's just, you'd think that after almost eight months without a memory she would have finally realized that we're like her family," Peter said as it dawned on him just how long it had actually been since the accident. "Wow. Eight months."

"Has it really been that long?" Sophie asked, not wanting to admit it.

Peter nodded to the blonde before him. The doctors said they didn't know how long it would take for Shelby to get her memory back or even if she would for sure. Everyone at Horizon was always optimistic, thinking she would get it back soon. But after eight months it was getting more and more difficult to keep up the hope that she would.

"Peter, do you think she'll ever get it back?" Sophie asked, insecurity shown in her voice. "I mean, after eight months, I'm beginning to loose hope."

"We can never loose hope, Soph," Peter replied with a sad smile. "Shelby's tough girl. If anyone can get this back, it's her."

"But it's been eight months. What if she can't? I know Shelby's strong but if she hasn't gotten it back yet…the doctors said the longer she goes without a memory, the harder it's going to be for her to get it back."

"I know what the doctors said, Sophie." Peter sighed. "We just can't give up hope."

"I have no room left for hope, Peter. I'm too consumed with worry."

Sophie stood up from the chair and made her way to the door. She had a long day and was exhausted. She wanted to go home, take a long bath and then go to sleep. She knew Peter would come home when he was ready. He had learned not to push him just like he had learned not to push her.

"I'll see you later," Sophie said and opened the door.

"Sophie!" Peter called. "There's always room for hope."

Sophie offered Peter a smile before walking out of the door, leaving the man alone in his office.

Peter leaned back in his chair and looked out the window of his office. Through the window, he could vaguely see the girls dorm. A sad smile appeared on his face as his mind wondered to Shelby. He always told everyone that there was always room for hope and they need to trust that everything would be okay. But, honestly, Peter was finding it hard to believe his own words.

_She'll be fine,_ Peter told himself. _She has to be fine._

* * *

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce, weylela, xXxNaleyIsLovexXx,**and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

So, it may be my birthday but you guys are the ones getting the gift. I got this chapter written fast after I gave up on my firefly fic for the moment. I have the rest of this story planned out, it's only two more chapters but I hope that you will all be happy about it. It should be a good ending, assuming I can bring my vision to life.

I don't know what I'll be writing next. It will be whatever comes easiest to me or whatever mood I'm in.

As always, please review!  



	14. Choices

(**A/N**) Memories lives!!! I know it's been very long since my last update(a little over two years!) for this story and I'm soooo sorry for that. I appreciate anyone who stuck with this story. Thank you very much, you guys, and I'm very sorry!

* * *

All the Cliffhangers sat at their usual table in the cafeteria. Quiet conversations were going on through breakfast. The end of the year was coming quickly and several of them were finally graduating, getting back to the real world with real lives outside of Horizon. It was strange how sentimental the last few weeks at Horizon had seemed to everyone.

"I can't believe you guys are leaving soon," Juliet said. She still had one more year left but a few of the Cliffhangers didn't.

"We're finally graduating," Scott said with a shrug.

"Do we get anything special for graduating?" Shelby asked.

"We get a graduation ceremony," Auggie answered.

"I meant more like a Prom or something. You know, how normal schools have."

"We had something last year. It was called a MORP, just like Prom," Ezra said.

Shelby's eyes flickered to him. "MORP?"

"Yeah, we're too screwed up and backwards to have a prom," David answered.

Shelby's eyes found David almost instantly after he spoke and she focused on him for several long, hard moments. There was something about what he said, or how he said it, that caught the young girl off guard. She had a very strong deja-vu feeling in that moment.

Her blue eyes closed and it was if for a second she remembered David saying that last year, when the idea for the MORP was initially created. However, the instant Shelby's eyes opened again the memory died away, dissipated until there was nothing left but the blank slate she had when she looked into the past, and she was left with nothing but that deja-vu feeling that she didn't quite understand.

Shelby shook her head and cast the feeling from her body. "So you guys had a MORP?"

"Yeah, the backwards of Prom," Daisy answered. "At least, that's how we proposed it to Peter."

Almost as if on cue, Peter walked up to the table just then.

"And I liked the proposal," he said.

"Well, obviously if you let them have it," Shelby stated.

"Right. But I liked the idea so much that I decided we're going to do it again."

There was quick excitement around the whole table and Juliet actually squeaked with happiness. Shelby was the only one who didn't seem too thrilled about the idea. She didn't quite understand what a MORP was, although she had been told it was just like a Prom, she couldn't grasp the concept completely for some reason.

"Conditions?" Scott asked.

"Only one," Peter said. "We're going to do it right again; gowns and tuxedos. Last years turned out great and I'd like to see that again."

"Ha! I've been on top of my calorie count," Jules said. "That can't be a condition this year."

"What about the no dates one?" Auggie asked.

Peter shrugged. "I tried making that a condition last year and everyone more or less had their dates regardless"

"I didn't," Scott said.

"We didn't go together?" Shelby asked quickly for the idea of them not going to the MORP together caught her off guard.

"I wasn't here for most of it," he replied with a shrug. "We ended the night together though."

For some reason, that thought made Shelby smile. She couldn't imagine having a MORP and not having Scott be with her. She watched Scott for a few long moments, just as she had David earlier and she had another one of those feelings, like deja-vu, but stronger. It was almost as if she remembered being in his arms that night, remembered how she felt with him that night. But within an instant, the memory faded again.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "I just got a kind of deja-vu feeling."

"Deja-vu?" Peter questioned.

"Yeah, just feelings, kind of. Sort of like, I knew what Scott was talking about when he said we ended the night together."

Everyone at the table, Peter included, exchanged glances at Shelby's words. There was suddenly hope again. Questions raced through everyone's minds. Was she getting her memory back? Was she remembering things that only their Shelby should remember? Was there still a chance for her to be their Shelby again?

None of the questions could be answered though. Even Shelby herself didn't know the answers to them. Only time would tell how things were going to turn out. But, if there was one thing everyone at Horizon was taught to believe in, it was hope. However, the sad thing was, they could do nothing but hope. And hope was beginning to not be enough after almost the whole school year.

Peter decided to break the silence first. "Okay, you guys. Finish up here and then to class."

Everyone nodded and gave smiles to Peter. They were happy to have another MORP, but they couldn't bring themselves to be overwhelmed with excitement like they could moments ago. Everything with Shelby has had a toll on everyone sitting at that table, and her making her deja-vu feeling public hit close to home for them.

* * *

Peter sat in his office with his phone to his ear. He waited for the other line to pick up again as he listened to the annoying music the hospital played for people on hold. He tapped his finger on his desk impatiently. The deja-vu feeling Shelby had mentioned earlier at breakfast caught Peter's attention, like it did everyone else. It made him wonder. He wanted answers to why this girl was suddenly feeling constant deja-vu so he decided to call the only person who could possibly answer the questions: Dr. Price.

"Come on, come on," Peter mumbled to himself.

"Hello, this is Dr. Price speaking," he heard on the other end of the line.

"Hr, Dr. Price this is Peter Scarbrow."

"Oh, hello, Mr. Scarbrow. Has there been a problem with Shelby?"

"No problem, I actually just have a question for you."

"Okay, well hopefully I have an answer for you."

"Shelby has recently made it known that she's been feeling deja-vu a lot, and she said she's been having feelings of knowing things we've talked about that happened in the past," Peter said. "I was just wondering if that meant anything?"

"Hmm," Peter heard, and then there was silence.

"Dr. Price?"

"I'm here, Mr. Scarbrow, just thinking," she replied, obviously lost in thought.

"Does it mean something?" he asked again.

"Well, there is some research that suggests that shortly before a person's memory returns, when they have that particular kind of amnesia, that they start feeling as if they know things they shouldn't; they have something like deja-vu, and I wonder if that could be what Shelby's experiencing."

"Does that mean she's getting her memory back?"

Peter suddenly felt overjoyed. Was Shelby really getting her memory back after all this time? Could their Shelby still be in there? Peter let himself hope again; let himself believe that he could still get _his _Shelby back. He, along with everyone else at Horizon, wanted that more than anything. They had all formed new relationships with Shelby, but everyone still missed their old ones, and they wanted them back.

"I honestly don't know, Mr. Scarbrow," the Doctor replied. "What's going on here, if I'm right, is that the old Shelby is fighting to come back, and that's evident in the deja-vu and unexplained feelings she's been having. However, the Shelby we have now isn't allowing our old Shelby to come back. It's like there are two different Shelby's fighting for control. Do you understand?"

"I think," Peter said. "So the only thing stopping Shelby from coming back is Shelby?"

"Basically. I wish I could comfort you and say it's only a matter of time before her memory returns, but I honestly don't know if that's the case. Your current Shelby might win the battle. It's a matter of which Shelby wants it more."

"I understand. Thank you, Doctor."

"I wish I could be of more help."

"It's okay. Thank you."

"Please call me if anything else happens."

"I will," Peter said and hung up the phone.

Peter sat in his office in silence. He thought about the whole conversation he had just had and couldn't quite wrap his mind around the new information. He understood what the Doctor had said completely. It was the part where they didn't know which Shelby would win that baffled him. Their Shelby was so strong, such a fighter, that it was almost inconceivable that she wouldn't win. However, their new Shelby had proved to be very similar, equally as strong. He didn't know who would win. No one did, except Shelby. All he could do was hope.

* * *

Sophie and Peter sat in the cafeteria surrounded by students as they ate with them. The pair sat at their own small table, one of the tables saved for students on shuns, and talked quietly amongst themselves. Peter had to let Sophie know about the Doctor phone call and she was handling the situation just as badly as he had.

"Wait," she said. "Go over this with me again. The deja-vu means she's getting her memory back?"

"No," Peter replied. "Well, not exactly. What she's doing means she's trying to get her memory back."

"So what's stopping her?"

"Shelby."

"Shelby is stopping Shelby from getting her memory back?" Sophie made it seem like the whole concept was ridiculous to her.

"I know how it sounds, Soph, I do, but that's what the Doctor told me," Peter said. "It's like a fight between the two Shelby's."

"What decides who wins?"

"Which ever one wants it more."

Without either Sophie or Peter knowing it, Scott had been secretly listening to the end of that conversation. He had heard enough of it to know what was going on. He had the feeling of hope momentarily, just like Peter had before, but it was gone just as quick. He thought about getting _his_ Shelby back, having _his_ Shelby back in his arms, and it caused him physical pain to know that it might not happen.

"What are you saying?" Scott asked as he came out from around the corner to be seen.

"Scott, you weren't suppose to hear that," Sophie said.

"Spare me the I'm-a-student-and-I-don't-have-to-worry-about-it crap," he demanded and then focused on Peter. "What's going on?"

"You just heard what was going on, man," Peter said gently.

"Explain it."

"The Doctor told me that she thinks our Shelby is trying to come back, but the new Shelby isn't letting her. It's a battle between the two, and whichever one wants to be here more is the one that's going to win."

"So you're saying Shelby's choosing not to be here?!" Scott snapped, and quickly got the attention of everyone else in the cafeteria, including Shelby.

Peter and Sophie looked around the room and noticed several faces looking in their direction. They had hoped to keep this bit of information a secret, and they soon realized that Scott just caused that to be impossible. Then again, maybe no one even knew exactly what they were talking about. One could hope, and Peter desperately hoped in that moment that everyone was still ignorant to what was going on. He knew his hopes were shattered though once he saw Shelby watching them very intently.

Shelby stood up from her usual table full of the other Cliffhangers and made her way towards the trio standing on the other end of the cafeteria. She walked slowly, hesitantly, like she was walking into a war zone and if she just stayed as quiet as possible that she would be safe. She knew instantly that her plan failed when she saw Scott glaring at her as soon as she made it there.

"Scott," she said softly as she raised her hand to touch his face but he jerked away.

"What do you want?" he retorted.

Shelby froze for a second before she turned cold with anger. She was trying to be nice, hoping to offer some consolation to the man she had fallen in love with, and he had to act like she was the devil or something. She felt the anger washing over her and she embraced it. She welcomed the cold feeling and used it as protection from the man in front of her. Memories or not, Shelby had fallen in love with him and he had just hurt her, badly.

"Peter, I want to call a Cliffhangers meeting," Shelby said calmly, keeping her eyes locked on Scott while she spoke.

"I think that's a good idea," Peter said. "I was planning on having one anyway."

"Yeah, but you weren't planning on telling any of us a damn thing about Shelby!" Scott said.

"Scott, that's enough," Sophie ordered, intervening on Peter's behalf.

Peter looked at Scott for a second before walking towards the table of Cliffhangers to let them know that once they were done eating to go into the lodge for group. Everyone was oddly finished once the words left Peter's mouth. All of them had heard Scott's outburst, and they wanted to know what was going on. They hurried to deal with their trays and made their way to the lodge. Everyone took a seat on the various furniture. Since this group had been called, the room wasn't set up for a traditional group.

Scott and Shelby trailed behind Sophie into the room last and took respective spots on opposite sides of the lodge. Scott sat with Ezra on one end of the couch, and Shelby sat on the arm rest of a chair Daisy was sitting in. It was clear that they wanted to be as far away from each other as possible. Shelby was hurt and angry, and Scott was just plain hurt. The news, and how he had interpreted it, hit him badly.

"Okay, so normally I would have Shelby start group since she's the one who called it, but I think I'm going to start this off and let everyone know what's going on first," Peter started. "I've recently spoken with Shelby's Doctor in regard to her having the frequent deja-vu and found out that it probably means the old Shelby is trying to come back, but the new Shelby isn't letting her. Now before anyone asks any questions or makes any accusations, I want to be clear. Shelby has nothing to do with this. It's not conscious on her part and she has no control over it. It will just be a matter of which Shelby wants to be here more."

"So, we're having group about Shelby's memory?" David asked. "Well, news flash, the old Shelby not being here has been going on for months."

"No, we're having group because Scott is being a jerk and blaming me for something I have no control over," Shelby retorted before anyone could say anything about David's attitude.

"You have all the control over it," Scott yelled. "You're the only thing keeping Shelby from being here!"

"That's not my fault! It's not like I can wave a magic wand and my memory will come back. I can't change that she's not here."

"Sure, you can."

"Oh, yeah? And how do you plan on me doing that, Scott?"

"Easily. Stop fighting her. Just give up."

"If I was so easy to give up, you and I would've had nothing to do with each other for the last six months!" Shelby snapped at him.

Scott had nothing to say after that. He looked away from Shelby and let his eyes wander the room. He didn't care where he looked just as long as it wasn't at Shelby. He knew she was right, and he hated it. He wanted to have someone to blame for _his_ Shelby not being there. But he knew it wasn't her fault at the same time. Scott was conflicted about what to do and what to feel, so much so that he was lashing out at whoever he could.

"Okay, you two just cool it," Sophie said. "Does anyone else have anything they would like to say about the situation?"

"I agree with Shelby," Daisy said. "I think it's ridiculous that Scott is blaming her for something that's completely out of her control."

"Well, I agree with Scott. He wants Shelby back like we all do," Juliet said. "He might be going about it the wrong way, but it's just 'cause he's hurting and he doesn't know how to deal with it."

"Just 'cause he's hurting doesn't give him the right to snap off on someone!"

"Alright, I got something to say. I'm gonna be the voice the reason 'cause I'm seeing both sides here," Auggie said. "Shelby, I know none of this is your fault, and I'm not about to start blaming you for it. But, I get where Scott's coming from too. He wants his girl back, memories and all, and it's making him be kinda mean. My issue here is that both of you seem to be forgetting something."

"And what's that, man?" Peter asked, urging Auggie on.

"Scott, you never would've talked to Shelby like that," Auggie said.

"That's not Shelby," Scott retorted.

"Yeah, it is. You just forgot that. With or without a memory that's the same girl you fell for. If it wasn't, you never would've fallen for her again like you did. I've seen you two together, meat, and it's like you both forget that Shelby doesn't have her memory. But when something happens that reminds you of it, like this, it's like you remember that this is a different Shelby and you're back to this act."

"You just agreed with me about her not being Shelby."

"No, I didn't. I said she's a different Shelby, not that she isn't Shelby. Different doesn't have to be bad. She may not have all of the same memories as you but she's got plenty with you. You two might not have the same relationship you guys did before but you still got a relationship," Auggie stated. "I get that you want the old Shelby back, man, but you can't blame this girl for it. She's got no control over it. You're the one with the control on how this is going to play out."

"How do I have control over how this is going to play out?" Scott snapped.

"'Cause you got a choice, man. She doesn't."

"I think Auggie's right," Peter said. "Scott, the ball is in your hands. You can choose to embrace the situation and make the best of it, or you can choose to continue this. What's it going to be?"

All eyes, save for Shelby's, were on Scott while Scott's eyes bounced between Peter's and Auggie's. Shelby still didn't want to look at him. Even if he decided on the former of the two choices, he still had messed up in Shelby's mind. She forgave him every other time he had a problem like that, but forgiving him was getting tiring. After so long, she felt like there shouldn't be that problem anymore; there shouldn't be anything to forgive.

Scott didn't know what to do. He wanted _his_ Shelby back more than anything. But he couldn't deny that he had grown to love the Shelby he had now, just like Auggie had said. They had formed new memories together, a new love. It wasn't the same one as before but it was still love. Not having the old love hurt, but Scott couldn't imagine a world where Shelby didn't exist in some form or another. He would much rather have this Shelby than no Shelby.

Scott paused on Peter before he let out a sigh. He turned to look at Shelby and wanted to smile at the sight. Even though she wasn't looking at him and trying to convince herself to hate him, he still thought she was the most beautiful person in the world. He could see the anger and pain even though she was trying her hardest not to show any emotion. Despite the coldness she was directing towards him, or perhaps because of it, he wanted nothing more than to hold her.

"I'm sorry," he said, but he got silence in return; she didn't even look at him. "Shel?"

"What?" she replied, voice flat.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what, Scott?" Shelby asked and finally looked at him.

"Well, do you forgive me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Ya know, I'm getting real tired of forgiving you for the same thing."

"This would be the last time. I promise."

"You have to understand that I don't have any control over this. I wish I did 'cause I would bring the old me back in a second if it meant you'd finally be completely happy. But I can't do that, Scott, and I can't be hurt like this every time something happens."

"I know. I've been a complete prick to you, and I'm sorry. I really am, Shel. I don't know what I'd do without you. You make me happier than anyone else in any way. Old memories or not, I still love you, and I'm sorry I made you doubt that."

Scott forgot about everyone else in the room. It was just him and Shelby in his mind. Shelby was the only one he had eyes for and the only one he was thinking about. No one else mattered and he could care less if they had heard him or what they thought. He just wanted Shelby to forgive him; he needed her to forgive him.

Scott stood up from his chair and moved over to Shelby. He kneeled down on the ground next to the chair she was in and grabbed one of her hands that was in her lap. He looked up at her and saw that she was no longer trying to hide her emotions; she was outwardly hurting and it hurt him to see her that way, especially since he knew he was the cause for it. He wanted to make that pain go away.

"Please, Shel," he pleaded.

Shelby looked at him and wanted to forgive him. Every fiber of her being shouted at her to forgive him. He seemed sincere and that made it even worse because he had seemed that way before. She always thought, _this is the last time_. And then it would happen again, and she would be hurt again. She couldn't bare being hurt anymore. She just wanted them happy. They were happiest together, so she knew what she had to do.

"You can't keep doing this to me, Scott," she said.

"I won't," he replied quickly. "I swear."

"I'll hold you to that."

Shelby smiled for the first time since the cafeteria and Scott couldn't help but grin at the sight. Scott stood up and pulled Shelby off the arm rest of the chair and into a hug. He separated from the hug just enough to look at her before he leaned down and kissed her. She responded, tilting her head up and making the hug a little tighter. They really had forgotten about everyone else in the room until Peter very loudly cleared his throat to remind them which caused the kiss to end abruptly.

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

"It's alright," Peter replied with a small grin dancing across his face, "Once. Just don't make it a habit."

"Come on, mountain man," Sophie said with her own smile.

Sophie grabbed Peter by the arm and drug him out of the lodge, with a playful glare to Scott and Shelby. They left the Cliffhangers sitting there stunned. They were silent for a few moments before everyone started laughing. Group definitely had it's moments.

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce, weylela, xXxNaleyIsLovexXx, SLITH, **and **Ashley 0918**. If I missed you, tell me. I'm soo happy that you're all enjoying this story.

As I said, I can't apologize enough for how long it took. I hope everyone enjoys it anyway. This is the second to last chapter for this story. Next update will be the last, and I already know what's going to happen.

Please, good or bad, let me know how I did!


	15. Because I Love You

All the girls walked into the dorm to find Sophie already there with dresses scattered across several different beds. Despite how much Juliet complained about the method they had for "dress shopping" last year, she squealed and darted forward to start going through dresses. Daisy casually walked forward and started to slowly sort through the darker dresses that were placed on her bed. Shelby, however, stood back and leaned against the wall furthest from the action of deciding a dress.

Sophie obviously noticed. She saw the look of apprehension dancing across her student's face and sighed softly. "Come on, Shelby, at least look. I'm sure one of these dresses are perfect for you."

Shelby locked her eyes on Sophie as she spoke. Once again, Shelby had that strong feeling of deja-vu. Had Sophie spoken those words to her before? She didn't know. Still, the feeling made her stop all other thoughts and focus on Sophie. She didn't make any attempt to move either, staying propped on the wall behind her.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah," Shelby answered automatically though she wasn't entirely sure it was the truth.

"Are you going to come look at the dresses?"

Shelby didn't answer with words. She did however pull herself off the wall and made her way towards Juliet's bed, which had the most dresses on it. She thought momentarily about looking at the dresses on her own bed but decided against it when she realized that the majority of those dresses were either white or varying shades of pink. She knew instantly who should be looking at those dresses, and it definitely wasn't her.

Shelby met Juliet by her bed and started sifting through dresses next to her. The pair looked in silence, each one claiming half of the dresses to look over. There were a couple that caught Shelby's eyes, but nothing that screamed at her: pick me, I'm the dress for you! Juliet seemed to be eyeing a baby blue dress when they both absent mindedly reached for the same dress.

Their hands touched for just a moment, but it made Shelby gasp as her eyes closed almost without her consent. Shelby had a familiar feeling build up inside of her, like deja-vu, but this one was stronger than anything she had felt before. With her eyes closed, it was like someone had turned a movie on inside her head. She saw herself and Juliet fighting over a dress. She saw a sort of game of tug-of-war with dress acting as the rope. The dress in her vision was nothing special, but the girls were fighting over it as if it was a diamond ring and the one who got the dress, got the prize.

"Why do you care what you look like anyway? He's not even going to be there," Juliet had said. Shelby knew it was only the Juliet in her head and the one standing before her didn't actually speak. It wasn't just that she saw that Juliet's lips moving either. It was that the voice sounded distant. It was clear that it was Juliet's voice, but it was far away, as if lost somewhere.

Shelby saw herself drop the dress then, and Juliet fell to floor, still having been pulling with all of her strength. The second Juliet fell to the floor, Shelby's eyes opened and the short movie inside her head ended. Shelby pulled her hands instantly away from Juliet and the dress they had both went to grab.

Juliet seemed to be the only one to notice Shelby's gasp and her reaction afterward. To Shelby's great delight, she made no move to touch her, or draw any more attention to her. She simply watched her for a moment before asking, "Shelby, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, shaking her head a little as if to clear it. "Ya know, there's a lot of dresses I think you'd like over on my bed."

"Why would I like them?"

"They're pink," Shelby answered with a false smile that Juliet didn't pick up on.

Shelby got what she wanted out of mentioning the pink dresses. Juliet's eyes lit up at the prospect and walked to Shelby's bed in search of a dress. Shelby had never been so happy to be out of touching distance from anyone. It wasn't that she had anything personal against Juliet at that point. It was just that the incident was too strange, and she didn't want to risk it happening again with anyone. She knew she probably should tell someone about what happened, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want dwell on it. She didn't even want to think about it really so she kept sorting through dresses, hoping to find the right one.

Everyone got ready in near silence. Shelby barely spoke the entire time she was moving through the dorm getting ready. She ended up finding the perfect dress for herself after all. It was a cerulean blue halter dress. It wasn't revealing at all(like Peter would have allowed that!) but it was slightly form fitting. The dress hugged her body until it reached her hips and then it flared out just enough that it had a wave to it. The top wrapped around her neck but the V cut was barely low enough to show anything. The shoes she wore matched the color of the dress perfectly as if they were meant for each other. They had a small heel and were held onto her feet with straps. Shelby's hair was in a half up/half down do, and Juliet had helped her make her normally straight hair have a natural looking wave, giving it more volume. The make-up they were provided with was barely anything so the girls did the best they could. Shelby kept her look very basic. She added a little foundation, some eye liner, mascara and a simple gloss for her lips. Shelby over all looked natural, but beautiful at the same time.

Juliet took a different approach to the MORP, as if she did everything because she wanted to be noticed. Shelby was right in telling Juliet to look at the dresses on her bed earlier because Juliet had found the perfect one for her there. She ended up choosing a pink dress after all. Thankfully, it wasn't a screaming pink, it was a soft pink. The dress was princess style. It had a tight bodice with spaghetti straps and it poofed out at the hips. Her shoes were white. She complained initially that they wouldn't match, but they ended up matching well and they didn't show any under her dress anyway. Her hair was left down but they had curled it. Her make-up was also a little bit more showy. She had put foundation, eye liner, mascara, pale pink eye shadow and pink lipstick on. Everything about Juliet screamed Prom Queen.

Daisy was very mellow about getting ready. She had found a scarlet red dress that made her pale skin stand out. Her dress wasn't tight by any means. It hugged her a tiny bit on her chest and midsection and then flowed where it reached her waist, but Daisy was very determined that nothing would show on her. It had thick straps too so not even too much of her shoulders were bare. She had black shoes that surprisingly had the highest heels out of all the girls. She put her hair all the way up in a styled bun, but with a couple pieces of hair down framing her face where they fell. Daisy had wanted to go all out with make-up but was told she had to keep it gentle. She didn't need any foundation, but she did put on eye liner, soft black eye shadow, mascara, and a dark red lipstick that matched the dress.

The girls were officially ready and everyone was giddy at the idea of the MORP, even Shelby to her surprise. Juliet couldn't wait to see Auggie, and how wonderful he would look in his tux. Daisy was eager to spend time with her two favorite boys: her boyfriend, David, and her best friend, Ezra who have surprisingly enough learned to tolerate each other where Daisy was concerned because she would accept nothing less. Shelby was ecstatic at the idea of seeing Scott in a tux. True, they had their rough patches this year, but beneath that, they fell in love with each other, and they were going to have one normal high school moment together.

The trio of girls walked into the lodge to see it decorated beautifully, but before they would even really look over the decorations, they were met by the boys, some of them making noises about how attractive the girls looked. Scott only had eyes for Shelby though, and he didn't make a scene, he merely smiled at her, and her heart melted at the sight.

The couples separated then. Juliet and Auggie met each other and walked instantly to the dance floor, Juliet obviously not able to contain her excitement anymore. Daisy walked away with one boy on either arm. Instead of walking to the dance floor though, they walked to the drinks and started talking amongst themselves. Scott walked up to Shelby and took one of her hands in his. He raised her hand to his mouth and laid a gentle kiss on her knuckles. The scene would have been corny if it wasn't so cute. Shelby had what seemed like a permanent smile plastered on her face.

"You look gorgeous," Scott said.

Shelby blushed just a little at the words. "You look pretty damn good yourself."

Scott chuckled and shook his head. "Do you want to dance?"

"Do I dance?" Shelby asked cautiously.

"You told everyone you didn't last year, but I got you too."

"How did you manage that?"

He grinned. "I didn't really give you a choice."

"What do you mean?" Shelby asked.

Instantly after the words left her mouth, Scott's grin grew. He still had one of her hands in his, and he used that to his advantage, pulling her to the dance floor. That was how he got her to dance the year before. He didn't ask her, he didn't say anything, he simple acted and pulled her to the dance floor. She followed, knowing fighting would be pointless. Scott led her to the middle of the dance floor, a little bit away from Juliet and Auggie, and pulled her close to him, putting his hands around her waist. It was still a fast song, and Shelby was at a loss for what to do. She glanced at Juliet and saw how she was casually moving to the beat, but she knew there was no way she could do that.

"I don't know about this, Scott," she said, barely loud enough for him to hear her over the music.

"Don't think about it, Shel," he replied with a reassuring smile. "Just move."

Scott started moving with the music, more or less forcing Shelby to go along with him since he still had his hands on her waist. Dancing seemed to come naturally to Scott. He swayed in time with the song, just as Juliet and Auggie were. Shelby was nervous, but she slowly started moving along with Scott. They were quickly joined by Daisy, David and Ezra, and that made Shelby feel a little more relaxed. By the time the next song came on, she was actually enjoying herself. She didn't move like Scott, but she moved with him none-the-less.

Everyone was having a good time dancing together. The group of Cliffhangers, with Sophie's help, even managed to convince Peter to come on the dance floor. The girls danced around Peter, and the boys danced around the girls. They only managed to keep Peter there for the duration of one fast song, but it was definitely something to see. Peter was obviously not a natural dancer, but he was enjoying himself, whether he would ever admit it or not.

Even though Peter did allow dates this year, he was tried to make the MORP very un-couple like therefore there were very few slow songs. After about 10 or so fast songs where everyone partook in the dance floor, a slow song finally came on and everyone paired up. Juliet and Auggie stayed together, Daisy took her first slow dance with David, Peter and Sophie came back on the floor together, and Scott pulled Shelby to him even closer.

Scott and Shelby changed how they were holding each other enough that they could be closer to each other in a way where Peter wouldn't mind. Shelby leaned her head on Scott's chest as "I Shall Believe" by Sheryl Crow started playing. Shelby was much more comfortable dancing to a slow song than she was to a fast one. The pair moved slowly with the music with ease.

"I sometimes can't believe this," Scott mumbled softly.

"Believe what?" Shelby asked.

"This. Us. How far we've come. I don't even mean just the accident and what happened to you either. We never had it easy, Shel. The odds were always against. Hell, we were always against us." Scott kissed the top of head and smiled. "But we did it. Thank God, we did it."

Just after Scott kissed her head, Shelby had that peculiar feeling again. Her eyes flooding closed without her consent, and she was pulled into what seemed like a movie playing inside her head. It was the same sensation she had earlier in the dorm with Juliet, but the movie playing this time was completely different. Juliet wasn't the one starring opposite Shelby in this movie, it was Scott.

Inside her head, Shelby was leaning against a doorframe that she recognized as the door frame between the kitchen and the lodge. She was covered in mud, and she was wet from sweat. Scott was standing opposite her in the same doorway, just as wet and dirty for the same reason. Shelby was grinning up at him seductively, but Scott clearly wasn't thinking about that.

"I don't go for used cars," he told her and walked away.

By right, if she was following what happened earlier in the dorm, Shelby's internal movie should have ended there. One flash and that was it. But it didn't. Instead of ending, the scenery shifted into something else. Again the pair were standing in a doorway, and again they were soaking wet, but it wasn't from sweat that time. Shelby saw what it was from. It was raining out, storming actually. Scott stood just a step behind Shelby with a helpless expression covering his face.

"Don't go, Shel," he begged. "I'm scarred too."

Shelby's look softened then. Both Shelby's, the movie one and the real one dancing with Scott, knew there was no way they could say "no" to that face, to that voice that pleaded for her to stay with him. Shelby did the only thing she could do then, she walked back in the building with Scott right behind her.

Again the scenery changed abruptly. It was no longer night time, they were no longer standing in doorways, they actually weren't even standing. The pair were sitting on the ground in the woods, the sun shining softly through the trees on them. Shelby was trying to get leaves out of her hair while Scott watched her intently.

"You're beautiful," he said softly which caused Shelby to instantly stop fiddling with her hair and look at him.

The movie changed again then. The pair were back inside, just outside of the lodge, not 20 feet from where they really were standing. Shelby looked upset as she looked everywhere but at Scott. He kept his eyes locked on her, looking rather irritated. They were clearly arguing about something, though the real Shelby couldn't figure out what.

Shelby finally met Scott's eyes and said, "Needing always kind of required someone to care. That wasn't big in my world."

His expression softened. "It is now," he said softly as he raised his hand and cupped the side of Shelby's face, causing her to lean into the gentle embrace.

Shelby didn't like what she was going through. She didn't quite understand what was going on. She didn't like being pulled from place to place like she was. She had no control over it either. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, and she couldn't shut her internal movie off. She liked seeing these old memories of her and Scott, but she wanted to come back to reality already.

Instead of her wishes being granted, the movie changed. Shelby was half sitting, half laying on the floor in the lodge, and Scott was next to her. They were painting a sign. Shelby wasn't paying too much attention to what she was doing. It was clear that her mind wasn't on the task at hand. Scott was the same way. He wasn't even really painting. He was watching Shelby with a paint brush in his hand.

"It's almost like we'd have to start all over again," Shelby said.

"I'd do that for you," Scott replied and the pair locked eyes.

The scene changed again, but this one was a little different. It was a little more vivid to her. This one wasn't quite like she was watching, but wasn't quite like she was living it either. She was still an observer, but she was a very involved observer. Shelby watched as her and Scott sat on a bench at the docks. Both people were crying, tears streaming freely. Shelby felt like she should be crying too, almost like she knew what was going on. She felt a sense of loss, but couldn't quite explain it.

"Maybe this is really selfish but it's not just you I'm gonna miss," she said softly. "It's the way I feel when I'm with you that I'm gonna miss even more."

Scott shook his head. "It doesn't have to be over. It doesn't have to be the end."

More tears were falling down their cheeks as the movie changed again. This vision, if one could call it that, was by far the most powerful one. Shelby no longer felt like an observer at all. She wasn't just watching this scene as she had the previous ones, she was living it. She felt the breeze on her skin, heard the noises around her, saw what was going on before her, and knew exactly what was happening. It was almost as if she controlled this scene, but that was okay because she knew exactly what was suppose to happen.

Shelby watched the meteor shower in the sky for only a few moments before she heard a noise behind her. She turned around to see Scott walking towards the group of people wearing a tux. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He gave a smile and put his arms out in front of him momentarily as if to say 'what do you think?'. She walked to him, drawn to him like magnets were drawn to metal. When they finally met she just watched him for a few moments.

"Why'd you come back?" she asked softly.

"Because…'cause I love you," he replied with some only a little hesitation. After all, it was the first time he was saying it to her.

Shelby melted at the words. She smiled and the smile kept growing until she pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck and back. Scott replied eagerly to the hug, wrapping his arms around her waist. He picked her up off the ground and spun in a circle with her in his arms. Scott gently put Shelby back on the ground, but he didn't let go of her just yet. She didn't let go either. She pulled away just enough to look him in those beautiful eyes of his that she loved. The pair watched each other for several long moments with smiles on their faces and in their eyes.

Suddenly, the movie ended. Shelby gasped harshly as her eyes finally opened. The girl from the movie inside her head was torn from the movie and brought back to real life. It was like the reality Shelby let the movie Shelby back in the drivers seat of her life. Shelby was back. She quickly glanced around the lodge and took in her surroundings as if they were foreign to her. A sharp sigh left her mouth as she pulled away from Scott. She looked down at her body and felt her hands and arms, making sure it was real and not a dream.

"Shelby, are you okay?" Scott asked.

"I'm fine," Shelby replied and looked as though she was surprised to hear her own voice. She blinked a couple of times, still trying to wrap her head around what happened. "I'm fine."

Shelby looked around the lodge for a few seconds more before stopping on Scott. Despite her claiming to be fine, he had a look of concern evident on his face. He didn't know what, but he knew something had happened. Something serious happened. Shelby was acting like she had just woken up from a bad dream and was incredibly relieved to find out it was just a dream. Scott was worried, so he was watching the girl before him with cautious eyes.

"Scott, it's me," Shelby said with a shocked smile.

Scott looked confused. "Okay, you're you."

"No, Scott. It's _me_." She had stressed the last word, hoping that would help Scott understand what she meant.

Scott stared at Shelby for a few moments before it seemed like comprehension was beginning to descend upon him. He looked into the girls eyes, and he saw Shelby looking back at him. Most importantly, he saw _his_ Shelby looking back at him. He didn't know how, but he now understand what Shelby meant when she said she was herself. She was back, memory and all.

"But…" he stammered. "I don't…You…How?"

"I wanted it more," she replied simply.

"Why?"

She smiled at him. "Because I love you."

Scott looked like he just about wanted to pass out from joy. He pulled Shelby into a quick, tight embrace. She replied, wrapping her arms around him. They loved the feel of being in each other's arms. Scott squeezed her so tight, as if afraid he was going to lose her again if he let go. Shelby was on tip toe, which made her just tall enough to breath in his scent at his neck. She felt like she hadn't seen him in months and, in a way, she hadn't.

"You gonna pick me up and spin me this time too, cowboy?" she asked him softly with a grin dancing over her lips.

"I'll do anything you want me to," he breathed.

Shelby's smile grew at his reply. Instead of speaking, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the lodge quickly. No one noticed them leaving, thankfully, because Shelby wanted to have a few minutes alone, just her and Scott. She had missed him so much. The feeling was mutual. Now that his Shelby was back, Scott just wanted to hold her and kiss her without an audience.

The pair walked briskly down to the docks without speaking or looking back. They kept their hands clasped until the reached the docks. The instant Shelby's first foot stepped onto the wood, she turned around and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Their lips locked and they instantly forgot about everything save for each other and the feelings they felt by the sensation of their lips together. Their hands roamed each other freely as their mouths worked on each other. It was strange that a kiss could be so sensual and feisty at the same time. They finally pulled away when oxygen became an issue. They were both so involved in the kiss that breathing through their noses wasn't enough. The couple was breathing heavy as they both tried to catch their breath from their rather amazing kiss.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time," Shelby said softly. "It wasn't the same kissing you while she was in control."

Scott looked at Shelby confused. "What do you mean?"

"I remember everything, Scott. The entire time you all thought I was gone, I was still here, under the surface. She was in control, true, but I was still here."

"You know everything that happened," Scott stated.

Shelby nodded slowly. She pulled away from Scott just enough to turn around and look out at the water. She watched the wind dance over the lake, causing small ripples in the water. She could still feel Scott right behind her. That was one difference between her being in control and the other Shelby being in control. When the other Shelby was in control, she couldn't _feel_ Scott like that. She missed it.

"I remember it all, even things she didn't know. I remember you all coming to me when I was in the hospital right after the accident, before I even woke up. I remember how hurt you were that I didn't remember you. I remember how you finally came to terms with me not having a memory," Shelby mused. "I remember all the fights I got into with everyone. I remember apologizing to all of you. I remember what Peter told everyone at our last group about my memory. I remember everything, Scott."

"How?" he questioned.

"I don't know for sure."

Scott wrapped his arms around Shelby from behind. He breathed in the scent of her hair as she leaned back into the embrace. He had missed her so much. He had grown to love the new Shelby, true, but he still was always hoping that his Shelby would return. Now that she did, he didn't really know how to react.

"What made you finally come back, Shelby?" he asked, softly.

"I already told you," she answered softly.

"But how did that make you come back?"

"What you said while we were dancing reminded me of exactly what you were referring to. We haven't always had it easy. Hell, you used to hate me, but some how, miraculously, we made it through so many obstacles to get to where we were. I forced her see the things I was remembering. I'm not sure how exactly, but I did." Shelby sighed softly. "I don't know if she did it consciously or not, but with the last memory, she let go of the wheel and let me get back in the drivers seat."

"What was the last memory?" Scott asked softly, his mouth only inches from her ear.

"Last years MORP, when you came back for me."

"When I told you I loved you for the first time."

Shelby nodded slowly as a smile spread over her face again. That night, to that day, still went down as on the best nights of her life. Scott felt he same way. He had felt that way about her for a while but never had to courage to come out and say it. That night changed so many things for both of them. It made sense that that memory was the thing that changed things for them tonight too.

Scott pulled Shelby into a tighter embrace, kissed her on the head and said, "We've got to tell everyone else."

And idea perked up in Shelby mind right after Scott mentioned telling the others. Her normal smile turned into a wicked grin then. "Can I have some fun with that?"

"What'd you have in mind?"

"I wanna see if they can figure it out themselves."

"That's not very nice, honey," Scott replied, playfully scolding her.

Shelby looked at him and pouted a bit. "Please?"

Scott laughed. "Fine. But if they don't figure it out quickly, then you have to put them out of their misery. It's not fair to them."

"I know. I'll only mess with them for a little bit," she replied, suddenly very eager to play her practical joke.

"If they don't figure it out by the end of the dance then you tell them. Deal?"

"Deal."

Shelby grinned at the idea of playing her joke. She was going to act completely normal and see if any of them noticed. She might drop some subtle hints though. She realized that losing her memory, and being forced to be an observer of her own life had caused her to remember everything a little bit more clearly. She could think of exact instances that only she would remember. She wondered if maybe mentioning those would help the others figure it out.

Scott and Shelby stayed on the dock for only a few minutes longer. They knew that Peter would notice they were gone soon if he hadn't already. They didn't want to have the night ruined by getting yelled at or being put on shuns. They hadn't graduated yet; they could still get in trouble. They also both wanted to go back to the dance regardless of how much they loved spending time together just them.

Scott and Shelby made it back to the MORP before Peter noticed they had left. He did have a lot to think about that night after all. They instantly went back to the dance floor and joined the other Cliffhangers. Shelby still wasn't too keen on the idea of dancing, but Scott wasn't giving her a choice. He drug her there whether she wanted to be there or not.

Whenever they weren't dancing, and even sometimes when they were, Shelby attempted to drop hints to everyone else that she was really herself. She was being very subtle about it, but she still had thought someone would have noticed something. However, all of the Cliffhangers remained blissfully ignorant to the fact that their Shelby was back. She figured that they all thought what she was saying were things she had simply learned from being with them for so long.

The last song came on and it was a slow song. Peter at least kept that Prom tradition. Everyone coupled up and once again Sophie drug Peter to the dance floor. Shelby leaned into an embrace from Scott as "Everything" by Lifehouse started playing. Shelby still wasn't comfortable dancing, but she allowed herself to relax in Scott's arms. They moved to the music casually, and she smiled. This night could not have been more perfect to her.

After the dance ended, Peter announced that it was time for everyone, save the Cliffhangers, to go back to their dorms and get to bed. It was almost 11:00pm and that was already past what was normally lights out. Everyone groaned and protested, but they went none the less. The Cliffhangers stayed behind to help clean at least a little bit that night before everyone cleaned the next day.

"I think tonight went really well," Peter announced as they walked around the lodge picking up garbage and turning everything off.

"It was actually even better than last year," Juliet stated.

"Of course it was. I was here for it this year," Scott teased, which earned him a playful smack on the arm from Sophie.

"I'm serious," Juliet protested. "This year was better."

Shelby smiled to herself. She knew it was time to fess up. Not only had she promised Scott but it was perfect timing. "I agree. I mean, last year I had to deal with a fight with The Princess before, Auggie trying to get me dance all night, playing counselor to Ezra, and I had to watch Daisy and David fight their feelings for each other during the whole dance," she said casually with a shrug. "The only good things about last year was that Kat was still here, Scott came back, and Peter and Sophie got engaged."

Everyone's eyes were locked on Shelby as her grin grew. Even Scott, who already knew, was watching her with a smile. It had been hard for him to keep it a secret, and he was glad she said something. She didn't come right out and say that she got her memory back, but she might as well have. Everyone figured it out very easily after her little rant about the previous MORP.

Shelby wasn't entirely surprised when she was rushed by the group of people and everyone pulled her into a hug. There were outbursts of "of my God" and several of them said her name as she was crushed under the group of people. She hugged back obviously although it was difficult for her to hug everyone at once. She had missed them as much, if not more, than they had missed her.

"How did this happen?" Peter asked after everyone got over the shock.

"It just did," Shelby replied with a shrug. She risked a glance at a smirking Scott before continuing, "I was dancing with Scott earlier, I had a flood of memories, and then I was back. I can't explain it."

"Who cares?" Ezra asked." It doesn't matter how it happened. The important thing is that you're back."

"Just in time for graduation too," Sophie said, pulling Shelby into another quick hug.

"Yeah, because that's what we're all excited about, not having our friend back or anything," Daisy said with sarcasm.

Everyone chuckled softly at Daisy's words. Shelby walked over to Daisy then and pulled her into another hug. After Scott, Daisy was probably the person effected the most. She was also the person, after Scott, that Shelby missed the most. No one really understand how Daisy and Shelby ever became so close. Even they didn't really understand it at times, but they had formed a very strong friendship during their time together, and neither of them would trade that friendship for anything.

"We've missed you, Shel," Auggie said.

"I've missed you guys too, Aug," Shelby replied. "And if any of you ever tell anyone outside of this room that I admitted to that, I will deny it and hurt you."

Shelby probably should have laughed or something at her words to let them know she was joking, but she didn't; she just went back to cleaning the lodge. Some people scoffed, some shook their heads, some smiled, but they all left her words alone and went back to cleaning as well. The group walked around the lodge putting it back in order.

Shelby stopped after throwing another stack of plastic cups in the garbage and watched the scene for a few long moments. She couldn't believe how much she had missed everyone in that room. She knew, deep down, that she wasn't really gone that whole time, that she was there under the surface, but it felt like she wasn't there. She felt like she had been without her family. She got them back though, and it was just in time to finish out the year with them. They would still graduate together. They would still leave their sanctuary that was Horizon together.

Shelby reflected upon the last several months with a smile. The experience may not have been a good one, but it was sort of a blessing in disguise. It had brought them all closer, whether they noticed it or admitted to it or not. They were always going to be a part of each other's life, always going to be there for each other, always going to be a family, to the day they died.

All in all, it was a good year.

(**A/N**)- First off, thanks so much for the reviews from: **Melms213**, **Snoopy22**, **Linkie**, **ScottandShelby4ever**, **SnowyOwl-17**, **nefftys**, **tracy**, **hdrox**, **keke1**, **bubbly**, **Mickey**, **AliciaClark**, **Ossie**,** rogue-angel07**, **Ishbugirl**, **2008ccampbell**, **luthien telemnar**, **Delia**, **Mandy**, **tribaltaism**,** Jill**, **Kala**, **PaceyandJoey4everAndAlways**, **Gaia**, **Anna**, **Ghostwriter**, **Ashley, FrostySnake, PaceynJoey4Eva, HigherGroundfan4Ever, DracoxGinnyfirexIce, weylela, xXxNaleyIsLovexXx, Shelby, SLITH, **and **Ashley 0918**.

I would also like to dedicate this chapter and story to **Ghostwriter**. You are by far my most loyal reader. I don't think there is a thing you haven't read by me that's Higher Ground. I could not ask for a better fan. You have no idea how much your support and kind words have meant to me. Thank you so much for following me through all of my stories! You truly are a wonderful fan.

So, Memories has come to an end. I know I had said previously that I didn't want this to have a typical happily-ever-after ending, but I changed my mind. When I thought about how I wanted to end this story I realized that I like the happily-ever-after endings. I know they don't exist all the time is real life, but fiction isn't real life. We can do whatever we want with fiction. It's one of the great parts about writing it. And, damn it, I wanted everyone happy. I think I made them suffer enough in this story.

I think I like the ending to this story. I'm not sure I did the memories/flashbacks well, so please let me know if you guys think I screwed them up. All in all though, I'm pleased with this chapter and story. It definitely helped me grow as a writer.

Thank you to everyone who read this story, reviewed this story, liked this story, and hell, thank you to those people who didn't like this story.

As always, please review and let me know how I did!


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